Priceless
by Cassiopeia7398
Summary: An InuYasha modern AU with a twist. This is a SesshxKag fic. Sesshomaru is the CEO of his father's company. On his way home from work one night, Sesshomaru's beast stirs, which hasn't happened in over 200 years. What could this mean? Sesshomaru had kept it locked up for so long, why is it coming back to the surface now of all times? And what is with this odd sense of urgency?
1. Finding Her

**Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other characters contained within the show or manga, that credit goes to the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. I just like playing with her characters, I do not make a profit from this story. Dr. Nakamura is mine though.**

**Warning! This Chapter contains lots of blood, dark mature themes, and strong language. If you don't want to read that, then please leave now. you can't say I didn't warn you.**

It had been a long exhausting day, and all Sesshomaru wanted to do right now was go home and take a nice long run before crashing in his expensive four poster bed. Twelve hours is far to much time to spend behind a desk reading and signing papers. There hadn't even been any meetings today, not that he liked meetings, but at least they were an excuse to get up and walk, if only a few feet, but still, that was better than nothing. He hadn't even gone out to lunch because his stupidly over attentive father had brought him lunch today. He literally had not stood up for over twelve hours, and now he was once again sitting, in his nondescript silver Honda Accord for another 45 minutes, driving home. He was sick of sitting down.

"What work?" you may ask. Well as it was now 2018, the great Prince Sesshomaru, heir to the West, and Son of the Great and powerful TaiYoukai Inu No Taisho, was now just Sesshomaru Taisho, CEO of Taisho Industries, and the most influential Demon- I mean- Man in western Japan. Around the mid-1900s Demons were finally forced to join and blend in with human society due to the fact that the sheer number of humans was beginning to overwhelm the demon population, much to the annoyance of many older demons who were still living in the feudal era. Not to mention, the humans continued to grow in their knowledge of science to the point that the weapons humans were now developing could easily demolish a horde of lesser demons. Even a few greater Demons began to fear the might of the human bomb. As easily as TaiYoukay heal, there is no healing from being blown to pieces. Demons had to get smarter, they needed to be subtle, to blend in.

Eventually, Sesshomaru's father assimilated into the culture well enough to start up his own company, which he used to employ and help the demon's in the surrounding areas to blend in and still have a place, other than home, which was safe to be themselves. Any human employed by Taisho Industries was either mated to one of the demonic employees, or was a friend to demons, and were sworn to complete and utter secrecy.

What does Taisho Industries sell? Officially, Taisho Industries is the parent company to several other large companies, which in themselves all do something different. One may sell medical equipment, while another sells construction supplies, and yet another is responsible for many famous clothing lines.

Under the surface, however, Taisho Industries is the only major company that distributes the necessary supplies to the different demon communities, so that certain hospitals have the necessary tools to work on Demons, so that the schools that allow Demon children to attend can have sturdy structures to withstand a demonic temper tantrum, and so that all demons have clothing that either hides or accommodates certain demonic attributes.

And Sesshomaru had just recently stepped into the role of CEO after his father finally it is safe to say that, while he may not be Lord of the West, he still held a high enough position to demand the respect of almost anyone else in the country of Japan save for the Prime Minister and his family, but that was fine because Sesshomaru never had to meet with the Prime Minister, and he could still act above all the humans without looking like too much of an asshole. Though some employees may still call him that behind his back. Honestly, he didn't care, as long as he was left alone.

Breaking out of his reverie, Sesshomaru noticed that his Moko-Moko had stirred, waiting a moment to gauge the circumstance of this movement, he felt his Beast begin to wake up. Taken slightly off guard Sesshomaru pulled his car over to the side of the road and stopped. He hadn't heard so much as a peep from his Beast in over 200 years. He had been sure to lock it up in the deepest recesses of his mind, forcing it into dormancy. What on earth would cause it to wake up now, of all times? Thinking hard, the only reason Sesshomaru could think of was something he had almost lost all hope of ever finding. He was, after all, 1,328 years old. If he was going to find a mate, he should have found her by now. Never mind the fact that he still looked no older than 20 by human standards, as demons go if you don't find a mate after 8 centuries, there is little to no chance of ever finding one. He may still be young for a demon, but most demons find their mate by 600-700 years old. 500 if you're lucky. Jumping out of his car and examining is surroundings he took a good whiff of air, trying t parse out all the different scents. If he could smell her from here, his beast would know and tell him. Finally, he managed to filter out the scent of a generic drugstore shampoo, and the fresh scent of wild blackberries. That was something he hadn't smelled in some time, it was a rare scent nowadays, especially when living in a crowded city. It was a sweet and refreshing scent.

His beast was fully awake now. He was growling and mumbling and pacing in his mental cage.

_Mate... need to find Mate, Need to hurry, Need to find MATE..._

Over and over, the same words. Sesshomaru felt an odd little sense of relief settle inside of him. Sesshomaru wasn't the romantic type, and he certainly would not go looking for a mate that was not meant to be his, but lately, his father had been getting anxious for Sesshomaru to have an heir. And Sesshomaru had begun to worry that his father would force him to start dating, a human ritual which Sesshomaru found detestable, in order to find him any sort of prospect. And if he had gone on another century without finding his mate, then the Council of Elders, which somehow managed to miraculously survive the integration, would assign him one, and the one thing Sesshomaru would have hated more than being forced to date women he didn't care for, would have been being forced to mate one. It's not that Sesshomaru cared About finding "Love" perse, but he would rather be mated to someone his Beast found compatible, than somebody the Council deemed "respectable".

Sesshomaru smirked slightly, the highest law in all of the demonic culture is that when the Beast finds a Life Mate, nobody can argue or dispute its choice, so whether they approved or not, they could not force Sesshomaru to mate another if his Beast chooses.

Suddenly remembering Why he is standing on the side of the highway beside his car, Sesshomaru takes another good Whiff and askes his beast "Can we track her in the car from here?"

_Yes! Must go NOW! Mate needs us NOW!_

The feeling of relief disappears, replaced with a deep sense of dread. "Why?"

_Mate, Danger, Go! Now!_

Jumping in his car and merging back into traffic, he rolls his windows down, and again asks "What's the hurry? What danger?" This was not good. Sesshomaru could not lose his mate, just as he was about to find her. The council would assign him a Mate for sure after hearing of this.

His Beast struggled for a moment, Straining to reach into his Mates thoughts. _Metal... Blood...Water... Can't Tell! Sense Death! Must Hurry! _The Beast was frustrated with its lack of insight. It needed to be closer.

The cold dread settled deeper into Sesshomaru's gut. This did not bode well for him. Tipping his nose towards the open window of his car, he followed her scent as it got stronger, exiting off of the nearest off-ramp, and heading in the opposite direction of his apartment. This was turning into a really shitty night.

...

Sesshomaru finally pulled up in front of a small six-story apartment complex. The placed looked so run down he almost thought it was abandoned, but her scent was most definitely coming from here. It was all over this place.

Sesshomaru once again asked his Beast where the danger was, but he was answered with a stunned silence. The Beast was not asleep, he would know if it was, but it was silent. Frowning he entered the building and tried to determine the source of the scent, there was one place up in the top floors where her scent was the freshest. Summoning his youki he sped up to the 5th floor and walked down the hall and into the first open door he sees. By this point, there is another smell, a metallic, sickening smell. Blood.

He searched the small flat, and, coming up to the closed and locked bathroom door he broke it down. Now, Sesshomaru is not the type to just go breaking into young ladies bathrooms, but this was an emergency situation. As the fragile piece of wood splintered apart, Sesshomaru was faced with a morbid scene, the likes of which he had never seen.

Don't get me wrong, Sesshomaru has seen plenty of blood and gore, in many cases, he was the one spilling it. He had seen honor killings and seppuku, Sesshomaru was no stranger to blood. But this was the first time he had seen an 18-year-old human girl-child laying in a bathtub which is slowly filling with both water and the blood which was flowing freely from both arms. Sesshomaru was no queazy weakling, but the scene was enough to make him almost throw up. This was NOT how he had envisioned finding his mate, and yes she was his mate. Maybe being attacked by an armed robber or another jealous female, or maybe she had accidentally cut herself with scissors or a kitchen knife. His Beast had said danger, which Sesshomaru assumed to be an external threat, something he could protect her from. This was something entirely different. She wasn't in danger from someTHING or someONE, she was in danger from herself. From the inside.

Sesshomaru briefly entertained the thought that perhaps somebody had done this to her to make it look like just another teen suicide, but any other living scent human or otherwise was days or weeks old. This was her own doing. All of these thoughts occurred within him at the same time within the span of a few seconds before he jumped into action.

One of the many perks of living thousands upon thousands of years is you have the time to learn any skill you want to, and part of Sesshomaru keeping up appearances in the Human world was to go through college. Several times. All under different names, of course, no need to give the humans too much of a fright realizing that there were being out there that were virtually immortal. The most recent time through, he had majored in business and acquired his Ph.D. Which was his father's requirement for taking over the company, however a previous time through, he majored in medicine. Grabbing the towel off the hook on the wall he lifted the girl out of the water and wrapped her up and immediately stripped off his midnight blue button up shirt and tore it into strips he could fold and use to staunch the bleeding. Taking his tie, he made a tourniquet for the right arm, which at the moment was spirting blood and needed the most immediate attention, then he used his belt to do the same to the left arm. pressing the strips of his shirt to the open wounds he pulled out his phone and called their families personal physician. While Sesshomaru did, in fact, hold an MD he had not practiced in 50 years, and there was only so much he could do with what was in this tiny bare apartment.

"Hello? This is Doctor Nakamura, how can I help you?"

"Asas, it's me. I have an emergency, where are you right now."

"Is this Sesshomaru? I haven't heard from you in a while. What do you need?"

"I found my mate."

There was laughter on the other end "Why are you calling me then son, call your father if you want relationship advice."

"She is dying Nakamura." Sesshomaru ground out, trying to hold the phone with his shoulder and keep the pressure on her arms at the same time.

The laughter stopped. "I'll be right there. Where are you?"

"Akihabara district. Follow the scent of blackberries and blood. There is an old run down apartment building, we are on the 5th floor."

"I'm on my way."

The line went dead, and Sesshomaru dropped his phone. "C'mon, C'mon, C'mon" He chanted over and over. Sesshomaru was getting desperate, and he was quickly losing his composure. He could feel the Beast clawing at the surface, trying desperately to take over.

_Must Save Mate!_

"I'm trying to you fool. You are not making this any easier." He was just about fed up with this, he couldn't focus on the task at hand and fight his Beast down at the same time, but he could feel his eyes bleeding red.

Luckily Sesshomaru didn't have to wait long. Asas showed up through the balcony in the living area. "Sesshomaru?"

"In here! Her pulse is weak, but it's still there."

Taking a moment to take in the blood all over the room Dr. Asas let out a low whistle "Shit... what the hell happened in here?"

Stepping back and letting the professional take over, he replied to the other demon. "She... She was trying to kill herself..." Sesshomaru choked out. It was hard to say. He didn't know this girl, but by some miracle of nature, she had been chosen as his mate, and he had gotten here just in time to save her or try to anyways.

Asas' face fell at that as he applied a clotting agent and properly wrapped her arms. Finally, he stood and said: "We need to get her to my clinic, she needs stitches and possibly minor surgery to reconnect the correct nerves and arteries."

Sesshomaru nodded and lifted the fragile girl into his arms. walking out to the balcony, he once again summoned his youki and crouched preparing for flight.

"What about your car?"

"This is faster. I'll send someone to pick it up later."

Asas nodded at that. Together they lept off the balcony and flew out over Tokyo, speeding towards Dr. Asas Nakamura's Clinic. Sesshomaru refused to let this girl die, not on his watch, which from this point on was until he died, which by extension would not be for a long long time.

**A.N. Congrats! you read that whole thing. I did warn you it would be dark and bloody. sorry if you didn't like it.**

**This story started running through my head while I was brushing my hair the other night and I couldn't get it to go away, so I just decided to start writing it (lol oops). This thing pretty much wrote itself, aside from Nakamura's name, I had to look that up, but anyway... I know it is a little bit of a dark beginning, but it gets better, I think. Sorry, it's so long, but I couldn't seem to stop writing this one... Comment to let me know if I should continue, If not I will just leave it here, or possibly just take it down who knows... If you Liked this story go ahead and check out my original story, it is called Queens. You can find it here:**

user/Cassiopeia7398

**Any comments are welcome, I would love some constructive criticism, just please no hate comments, If you don't like it then just don't read it, sorry if it's not for you...**


	2. Waking Up

**Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha. :(**

Kagome floated in a silent black void, enjoying the quiet. This warm darkness was so calming. She tried to remember how she had gotten here, She had this vague feeling that something hadn't been quite right...and that is when she began to feel more than the pleasant numbness of floating in the dark. It started in her wrists and began to tingle through the rest of her, traveling up her arms, and down her legs. Her arms burned, and her whole body suddenly felt very heavy.

The void disappeared, replaced with a dim light behind her eyelids. She slowly blinked the sleep out of her eyes and looked around her. Turning her head to the side, she saw a large window with sheer white curtains and a cloudy grey sky outside. The wall, she noticed, was also white. Turning to look at the other side of her room she saw a tall door which was open just the slightest crack, and there was a bedside table on this side of the room. On the said table was a vase with sakura blossoms in it, and a glass of water. Looking to the corner of the room on this side, Kagome noticed a brown easy chair, in which slumped a tall sleeping silver-haired man. She tried to think back to see if she knew this man, but she had no recollection of ever meeting him before in her life, despite the odd sense of familiarity she felt when she looked at him.

The act of trying to remember the silver-haired man made her remember what she had been doing before she found herself in the void. She had tried to kill herself... But what was it that... Ah now she remembered, she remembered the voices in her mind, the ones that told her she was no good.

"So useless"

"Everyone would be better without you."

"Nobody wants you around, not even your parents. That's why your precious Daddy left!"

Feeling slightly panicked, she tried to sit up and look down at her wrists. She finally struggled into a sitting position and was frantically trying to remove the bandages from her forearms. Suddenly there were two large hands holding her own hands down in her lap.

Quieting suddenly Kagome looked at the hands and then followed the connected limbs up to a set of rather broad shoulders which connected to a neck and then a stern face looking down at her, it was the man who just moments before had been sleeping in the corner of her room. Just who was this guy? Her racket must have woken him up. She blinked inquisitively at him. "Leave them on." He said. "They need time to heal."

Kagome, now feeling the heaviness pressing down on her even more insistently than before, asked "Why do you care? You don't even know me. What if I don't want them to heal?" she snapped irritably.

His face changed then, just marginally, but Kagome caught it. For a moment he looked hurt, but then the stern mask slid right back into place. "We'll have plenty of time to talk about why exactly I care later, for now, you need to rest and let those stitches do their job," he said loosening his hold and moving to position the pillows behind her back. "Lie back."

Feeling strangely compelled to do as he said she let herself relax into the pillows which allowed her to sit up a little without so much work on her muscles. Kagome gave the man a once over trying to evaluate him. She was sure she would remember meeting a tall sexy guy like this, no matter how conscious she may or may not have been if she ever had. Those piercing golden eyes weren't something you could just forget...

He looked her over and gave a small exasperated sigh, "You lost a lot of blood, you need to rest and eat up. You'll be pretty weak for several days. Luckily you humans are pretty resilient, with the proper diet and exercise you should easily make a full recovery."

Kagome rolled her eyes, "You sound like a doctor."

He smirked "I was for a while." with that he left out the door and she was left alone in that blindingly white room.

She once again examined her bandaged arms, this time refraining from trying to tear the gauzy stuff off. She let her mind replay the events leading up to her attempted suicide. She remembered her fellow students' words, her teacher's apathy, her brother's lack of attention to anything other than his precious video games, her mother's empty eyes. She remembered looking in the mirror and agreeing with the awful things that were said to her, looking in the mirror on the opposite wall from where she sat, she still agreed with them... most of all she remembered the crippling loneliness, brought on by a complete lack of human contact for the expanse of about 6 years. At least if the bullies at school had beaten her up, she would have had some kind of contact, even if it wasn't kind, it would have been kinder than not touching her at all, even going out of their way to not bump shoulders in the halls. Her mind continued, going deeper and deeper into the darkness, going so far as to dig up old irrelevant memories, taken out of context, and add them to the ever-growing heap of failures that seemed to be Kagome's relatively short life.

Finally, the silver-haired man returned, this time with another man, this one standing at least a whole head shorter than Mr. Frosty over here. The new guy was wearing a long lab coat over a blue plaid shirt and khaki pants. his short spiky hair and brilliantly red eyes were striking against the whiteness of the room.

"My name is Dr. Nakamura Asas. How are you feeling?"

_Like I just tried to kill myself. How do ya think I'm doin doc?_ "Tired mostly" Kagome answered him, trying to suppress the sarcastic urges.

He gave a weary smile "That's normal, you did lose a lot of blood. Are you hungry at all?"

Kagome thought about it for a moment. Before her little suicide attempt, she hadn't been eating hardly anything at all. To the point, her body just stopped telling her it was hungry, so she didn't think the way her body was feeling was a good indication of reality. Never the less she shook her head that no, she wasn't hungry.

"Well, I'd like you to eat something all the same. I'll have someone bring in some light easy food for you when we're done here. I'm just going to check your vitals and then leave you two alone."

Kagome shot him an incredulous look as he sat on the edge of her bed, pulling off his stethoscope.

"The two of us?"

This time silver hair spoke up. "Dr. Nakamura has decided it would be for the best that someone stays in here and keeps an eye on you, considering the events that lead to you being in this bed in the first place."

"And that person is... who? You?" Kagome was starting to get slightly irritated with this guy. "I don't even know your name. Who are you anyway?"

The doctor finished listening to her heart and gave silver hair a look that seemed to say 'you haven't told her yet?'

Silver hair rolled his eyes and answered "My name is Sesshomaru" looking back at the red-eyed doctor he also said, "And no, we have not discussed how I found her yet. I did not think it appropriate."

Kagome almost growled at him in annoyance. "You can say it. I tried to kill myself. Stop tiptoeing around it!"

Sesshomaru noticeably flinched at her words. "That isn't what I was referring to little one. Please refrain from upsetting your wounds by overreacting. "

Kagome frowned, but she didn't say anything else.

As Dr. Nakamura finished checking my vitals, Sesshomaru stalked back over to the chair he had been in earlier and sat down, pulling a thin laptop from the computer bag on the floor next to it. Dr. Nakamura left saying that a nurse would be in shortly with some food.

Kagome looked over to Sesshomaru with a questioning glance. As far as Kagome knew, she had never met him before in her life. Knowing his name now, and seeing his face, she recognized him as the young business protege who took over Taisho Industries after his father stepped down, but she had only seen his face on a very few magazines in the grocery store checkout. That didn't explain this odd sense of familiarity she felt when she looked at him. And on top of that, this strange man seemed to know her and care about her well being.

Just as Kagome was about to ask him, a pretty young nurse came in with a tray of food. Mostly iron-rich foods like spinach and kale salad, but Kagome also spotted stuff like jello and fruit, so she wasn't too disappointed by the array of choices.

"Dr. Nakamura says you need to eat this." She said.

Sesshomaru once again spoke saying "Leave it, I will make sure she eats."

Kagome rolled her eyes, he was also so damn sure of himself she almost wanted to snub the food, just to spite him. But one look at the fresh blackberries and her stomach grumbled, for the first time in months...

**A. N. That's it for today. I haven't noticed any new views, but if you read this story and like it, go ahead and leave a comment, just to let me know what you thought. (****｡****﹏****｡****)**

**See Y'all next update.**


	3. Explanations

After Kagome had eaten to Sesshomaru's satisfaction the nurse had come in for the tray to get it cleaned up. As she left the room, Kagome shot Sesshomaru an expectant glare, and he just kept typing away at his computer as though he didn't feel her eyes boring into his skull.

"Ahem." Kagome cleared her throat in an attempt at getting his attention.

He looked up over the top of his computer at her, one regal eyebrow raised in an incredulous expression that seemed to almost say "yes? " With such a sarcastic air as to make Kagome once again struggle to refrain from slapping that perfect face of his.

"You owe me an explanation. I still don't know who the hell you are." She demanded.

Face falling marginally, he took a deep breath, which he held for a moment, and then let out in a long heavy sigh. Folding the screen of his laptop down and placing it back in its bag by the chair, Sesshomaru leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and folded his hands together, his face regained some semblance of emotionlessness, as he tried to think of where to even begin explaining himself to this fragile girl before him. After several false starts, he finally spoke. "How old are you?"

"How is that relevant to this conversation?"

"It is, I promise. A name would be useful too. Unless you prefer I just call you Little One all the time..."

Kagome gave him an evaluating glance before deciding to play along. "Fine. My name is Kagome. I am 18 years old."

Nodding, he asked her another question. "And you have graduated High school?"

"... Yeah"

"What did they teach you about the Waring States Period?"

Kagome gave him an odd look but answered him anyway. "It was over 500 years ago, Japan was separated into different territories, which were each ruled by their own warlord who kept his own citizens in line by various means. Um, there was samurai, and traveling monks, and priestesses."

"What myths did your teachers tell you about? "

"I still don't see the relevance. "

"Just... Answer the question, I need to know what you know before I can explain myself"

Kagome rolled her eyes "The monks and priestesses had powers and along with other humans known as demon slayers, they fought freakish looking creatures that hungered for human flesh, they were called youkai."

"Is that all?" He sounded mildly surprised.

"There might have been more, but that is all I remember."

Sesshomaru sighed again, contemplating his next words carefully. "There is truth in every myth you know"

Kagome looked at him like he was crazy. "Please don't tell me you are a vampire... Or a shadow hunter... I'm not an idiot. "

He chuckled a little. His face held a rueful expression. "Oh no little one, I am far more terrifying than that. "

Kagome almost laughed, until he looked her directly in the eye, and she saw something that could only be described as feral. He wasn't lying. She shut up.

"There were Youkai, and demon slayers, Monks and Miko as well. The Youkai are also known as lesser demons, and yes, they are quite ugly." he smirked here before continuing "But there was another type of demon, more evolved, the Taiyoukai, or Daiyoukai, depending on who you ask. They are able to change form, to hide their true selves, to the point that many of us today are born in humanoid form. We are far more powerful and civilized than any of the lesser demons."

With his pause, Kagome jumped in "Us? We? You can't actually be serious."

The piercing gaze of his unnervingly golden eyes effectively shut her up again. "I am a Taiyoukai. A demon. Of the Inu Clan, to be more specific."

"So... You're telling me you're a dog? "

This time Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. "Please do not compare this Sesshomaru to the domesticated creatures you humans call dogs, we share no resemblance to those needy creatures"

In Kagome's shock with the fact that he obviously believed everything he was saying, she found herself almost just going along with his ridiculous story. "Sure... I still don't believe you."

"Shall I prove myself?"

Kagome laughed sarcastically. "Sure...whatever... I still think this is crazy."

Her laughter died as soon as Sesshomaru let his disguise fall. He stood, and he allowed the control he held over his appearance to fade, just enough for his markings and Moko-Moko to be visible. His vast years of experience and the sheer power he held over his aura and youki allowed him to hide his markings and Moko-Moko, as soon as he let go of that control he stood before her, markings and all. It had been so long since he had been so exposed in a human's presence, he almost felt naked without that extra barrier between them.

Kagome stared at him for a second. One minute he appeared perfectly human, the next, his face had some sort of tribal markings, and there was a large fluffy cloud looking thing draped over his right shoulder. After the surprise wore off, Kagome scoffed at him "That was some sort of parlor trick. You're just screwing with me, aren't you? Who are you really? "

He stalked over to her bedside and let more of his appearance change until he was just on the verge of transformation. His face elongated, and his eyes turned blood red. He growled and the air in the small room crackled with his power.

Kagome began back peddling, there was no way this could be faked, but... as unnerving as his appearance now was, even as he reigned back his control, reverting back to his only slightly demonic appearance, she still felt no sense of danger from him. She felt unnaturally calm seeing as she had just witnessed the impossible. Frowning at him, she reached out and grabbed the wrist that was closest to her, examining the magenta stripes, and sharp claws that now adorned his previously very normal hands. "So it's true?"

He hummed in the affirmative, now fully back in his undisguised humanoid form.

She ran a finger over one perfect claw and felt the solid reality of it. She shook her head, "how are you even real? "

"A few hundred years ago we were forced to hide our true selves, to blend in. You, humans, were getting smarter, developing newer stronger weapons. Even my concentrated power is no match for an atomic bomb. We heal quickly, but not quickly enough to withstand being blown to minuscule pieces."

"And how old are you?"

"1,300 years old, give or take a few years, I stopped keeping track after I hit about 650."

"Now your screwing with me. "

He gave her that judgemental look again. "No, and my father is even older than I"

Kagame looked at him in disbelief. "None of this explains how and why you saved my life. "

There it was again, that pained look. "We Taiyoukai each have something called a Mate. A life mate. The connection is similar to what you humans would call marriage. They are predetermined for us by an unknown force, usually detected by our more primal side, something we call the Beast. Usually Mates find each other within the same species. An Inu will mate an Inu, a Kitsune a Kitsune and so forth. But on very rare occasions, Mates can be interracial, or even sometimes between a human and a demon." He paused, rallying himself to explain the next part. "My Beast sensed you while I was driving home from the office, the night you tried to... Kill yourself" His voice quieted. "I was able to single out your scent and track you to that bathroom."

Kagome was reeling. Mate? Marriage? Nobody ever asked her about this! She wasn't ready to get married yet, she still had... Well okay, she did try to kill herself, obviously she didn't have that much to experience before marriage, but still, that is a big step to take...

"It is understandable if you are confused, or need time to process this, but... I have been waiting over 1300 years to find a Mate. Most of us find ours by the time we are at least 600 years old. I really had lost almost all hope of ever finding you, and to see you in the water... With so much blood... " His voice had died. He looked down at the ground as he sat heavily on the bed beside her. His shoulders were hunched his head fell, his long unnaturally perfect silvery white hair fell in cascading waves over his face and shoulders. "I know we don't know each other well, or at all really, but the Mate's bond grows and develops fast. Watching you die, it was like watching my self, die, right before my eyes. I know that as a human, you can't possibly know any of this yet, but you are already a part of me. I may not love you yet, but I know I can't lose you."

Looking at this man in front of her, Kagome's eyes softened. Where was that nonchalant, bossy know-it-all from earlier today, because the man before her now was a completely different person.

"You're right."

He turned to look at her, straightening back up a little.

"I don't understand all of it... But... " Kagome paused, looking for the right words... "But I am willing to learn about it, and about you."

His eyes gained the slightest glimmer of hope in them.

"What else do I really have to live for anyway. " Kagome laughed lightly, but Sesshomaru frowned at her.

"Don't say that." He whispered sullenly.

"We can't pretend like it didn't happen Sesshomaru, I tried to kill myself, it's passed, let's move on."

Sesshomaru's frown deepened. "I'm not pretending like it didn't happen, but you shouldn't make light of it. Suicide isn't something you can 'just get over'."

This time it was Kagome's face that dropped "Fine, can we not talk about it right now then? If you're just going to be serious about it..."

"Sure, but we will talk about it later." He gave her a knowing look, "I have lived long enough to know when someone is hiding their true feelings behind humor, my brother does the same thing."

"I thought we weren't talking about this. "

Sesshomaru looked down into her eyes and said "Alright then. You need your rest anyway. Try to sleep, I'll just be over here." He stood up and went back to the chair in the corner, and pulling out his laptop, he began working again as though nothing had just happened.

So, this guy was supposed to be her mate... Kagome thought about it for a while. Her final thoughts before sleep finally overtook her was _maybe it wouldn't be so bad, to be married... Mated to someone like him._

**AN. So that's all for this chapter. Getting some good conversation between our Lovebirds. Also, I looked it up, and if Sesshomaru was 500 years old in the feudal era which was about 1185-1603, assuming that the events of Inuyasha happened around 1190 ish, Sesshomaru would be 1,328 years old in 2018, give or take. Just a little fun factoid there. :)**

**I'll try to update again soon. Until next time readers!**


	4. A New Beginning

Kagome stayed in Dr. Asus' private clinic until he was satisfied that her body had had enough time to regain enough strength to function with relative ease on her own and that her arms no longer needed the stitches. When Kagome was released, it was on the condition that she stay with Sesshomaru, at least until she was back to full health, after that, where she stayed would be between her and her "intended" as he called it. It ended up taking about 2 long tedious weeks for her blood count to be acceptable, even after a blood transfusion.

Interestingly enough, two weeks of sitting in an empty room with no one to talk to but Sesshomaru was just as enlightening as you would expect. Kagome learned that Sesshomaru works 80% of the time, the other 20% being split between sleep, food, and a very minimal amount of conversation. She supposed it made sense, he did have to run Taisho Industries after all. Normally he would be doing all that work from his office, and just because he was on suicide watch didn't mean he had any less work to do.

When they did talk it was mostly small talk. He asked about which school she attended, her favorite foods, friends (that had been a short conversation, AKA she didn't answer him). Most of his questions were trivial, and Kagome got the odd feeling that he was just as new to this whole relationship thing as she was. In fact, in those two weeks, they hadn't even talked about the whole mate thing, not that Kagome was ready for that conversation anyway but still, Kagome had no idea how to define their relationship. Was she supposed to treat him like an acquaintance? Friend? Boyfriend? Master? How was she supposed to know? He said Marriage, but that still didn't help Kagome to understand their dynamic, or the inexplicable connection she felt with him that went far beyond just, "hey I've met you before", and somehow managed to grow stronger every day.

When they arrived at the large apartment complex, Kagome stared up at the towering structure in awe. The tall glass building was unlike anything Kagome had ever seen in person before. "You live here?"

Sesshomaru hummed his answer in the affirmative. A response, Kagome was learning, that he preferred to actual speech most of the time.

Sesshomaru gestured for her to enter the building as he handed the car keys to who she assumed was probably the valet. Inside the lobby was just as dazzling as the outside of the building, the multicolored granite tiles sparkling in the evening sunlight. Everywhere she looked she saw sakura blossoms. The tile pattern, the paintings adorning the pristine white walls, and in every flower vase on every counter and coffee table. even the silver elevator doors on the far end of the room were embossed with a red honeycomb and sakura blossom pattern.

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru checked with the front desk to let them know he was back. While the clerk retrieved him the extra set of keys he had requested, Sesshomaru looked back at the Kagome who was standing in the middle of the room and taking everything in. She looked entirely enraptured. The thin white and green dress she was wearing was given to her by Asus' Mate who was about the same size, and it suited her rather nicely. Mrs. Nakamura had chosen well, and his Beast was currently purring with approval seeing Kagome in the afternoon lighting, the granite tiles casting light specs across her face and hair. Sesshomaru would have retrieved Kagome's own clothes, but in the few conversations they had had in that hospital room, Kagome refused to discuss her family, friends, or anything about her home at all. He suspected that they probably played some part in why she had done what she had, though he didn't think her home was abusive. The only wounds that marred her flesh when he found her were obviously self-inflicted.

In fact, Sesshomaru was completely confounded as to what could possibly have caused this, young, spitfire of a girl to even contemplate death. She was strong, stubborn, and completely beautiful, as his Beast loved to constantly remind him, often distracting Sesshomaru from his work with complaints of wanting to watch or talk with their Mate, or thoughts of seeing her with pups someday, or imagining her in the wedding dress that human custom would require she wear before their Mating night. What could have made her life seem THAT bad?

Once the clerk returned and called Sesshomaru from his thoughts, he handed over the keys and moved on to the next person.

Sesshomaru then proceded to walk up to the object of his previous musings, and lead her to the elevator doors with a gently guiding hand on her lower back.

Kagome felt Sesshomaru's proximity several seconds before she felt his hand on her back. The touch sent pleasant tingles through her entire being. She didn't even care that he hadn't asked, the contact alone was enough for Kagome to relax into the touch. She followed him to the elevator, and sorely missed his hand when the doors closed and he pressed the button for the topmost level, sticking one of the keys into the slot next to the button he selected. Kagome assumed that he probably owned the penthouse apartment, and the elevator probably opened straight into it, which was why it required his key. The ride up to the apartment took several awkwardly silent minutes before Kagome's suspicions were confirmed and the doors opened into an entryway that led into a lovely family sized kitchen black countertops and a tall two door stainless steel refrigerator.

"Go ahead and look around, I'm going to make sure that my attendant prepared your room." Sesshomaru said as he walked around the corner, dropping his keys into a small bowl on the counter by the door.

As he left the room Kagome watched as he let his disguise fall, she still wasn't used to his sudden changes in appearance, and from what she knew, she still hadn't seen his true form. If this jarred her, she could only imagine how it would feel to watch him become some... creature.

Venturing out into the rest of the house, Kagome explored the expansive penthouse. This was the largest apartment she had ever been in. The main living area consisted of the kitchen, of course, what Kagome assumed to be a library, a sitting/living room, a dining room, an office of sorts, and what was probably a small personal theater room with one of those fancy new curved-screen TV with large speakers in every corner of the room, a few comfortable chairs, and a pile of beanbags and pillows in the corner. She supposed when one lives as long as Sesshomaru had, you have plenty of time to just save all that money you don't need or use. That and he was the CEO of a very successful company, so she supposed that probably didn't hurt his bank account either.

Walking back to the library, she inspected the many ceiling-high bookshelves, just to see what sorts of books he had. Among the many textbooks, business books, history books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias, there was one shelf completely devoted to old scrolls. reaching for one, she gingerly unrolled it on the desk in the middle of the room and tried to read what was there. The calligraphy was beautiful, and the illustrations were stunning, but the language used was foreign to her. She could tell by the shape and style of the characters that it was Japanese, but it was not her Japanese.

Kagome felt Sesshomaru's presence enter the room."That is a history of my family. It was written over 2,000 years ago, many years before I was born." He said as he approached the little reading table.

"That must explain why I can't read this." Kagome mused.

"Probably, there have been a few changes since then." Once again Kagome was reminded of just how much older he was than her. _To him_, she thought _I must seem almost like a baby._

"How does the apartment suit you?" He asked.

"It's fine, a little bare, you can tell a bachelor has been living here for a while." she joked. "Your library is impressive, and the view of Tokyo from the windows it beautiful."

"Hmm... Feel free to change whatever you want, as long as you don't rearrange the office."

Kagome laughed "Do you always have to be so formal? I was joking about the whole bachelor thing"

He smirked at her "I know"

Kagome rolled her eyes, "So where is my room?"

Sesshomaru headed towards the back hallway and gestured for Kagome to follow. He leads her back past several closed doors until they reached a door that opened into a comfortably sized bedroom with a queen-sized cherry wood bed and a lovely cherry wood dresser. there were three other doors in the room aside from the main entrance, two of which Kagome assumed to be a bathroom and a closet, respectively. It was a really nice room.

"What's the third door for?" She asked.

"That connects to the master bedroom." He answered, as though it was completely normal for her room to open straight into his.

Kagome looked at him suspiciously. "You're not planning on spying on me while I sleep are you?"

"No, I simply thought it might be more convenient, were something to happen"

Kagome tried desperately to hide the blush now covering her cheeks. Not only was this man supposedly her soul mate, chosen by fate, and she would be sleeping right next door to the guy, but now their rooms would be connected by a door. What if she opened a door to use the restroom and walked in on him changing? Her blush deepened.

"If this arrangement makes you uncomfortable, there is a lock on your side of the door should you wish to keep it closed more permanently." He said, not missing the embarrassment marring her cheeks.

"That's um..." she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "nice to know..."

"Feel free to change whatever you like. I want you to feel comfortable here." He gave her a brief glance before he pointed out which door was wich and was about to leave the room when he remembered something. "My daughter will be home in a few hours with her babysitter. She's a bit of a handful, just so you know."

"Wait, hold up! You have a daughter? I thought you never mated..." Kagome looked at him shocked. How did he not mention this detail to her in the two weeks they just spent together?

"I didn't. Rin is adopted," he answered.

"Is she a youkai?"

"No, she is human. I found her in an alley near the company's main building. I tried to find her parents, but she didn't speak, and I found no record of her parents. It took a while, but Rin is legally my daughter now, and after a year an a half of counseling and therapy, we brought her voice back. Now, of course, she almost never stops talking."

Kagome looked at him curiously, only to find a fond smile gracing his features. She felt a little stir in her heart. He must really care for the girl. Kagome smiled too. "She's lucky to have you. How old was she when you found her?"

"The doctors guessed about 5, maybe 6 years old. She is 8 now."

"Well, your apartment certainly doesn't look like 8-year-old lives here."

Sesshomaru chuckled. "It usually does, but Rin was staying at her babysitter's house while I was with you, so she hasn't had the chance to make it messy again since the house cleaner was here on Sunday."

"That makes sense." Kagome suddenly felt guilty for keeping the little girl from her father for two weeks. She was also feeling slightly light-headed from standing so long, the extreme lack of blood in her system coming back to bite her in the ass once again.

"You have free reign in the apartment, so long as you don't move anything that looks like paperwork. You should probably lay down for an hour or two though. I'll just be in the office finishing some things up so I can be free for you and Rin when she gets back." he turned and left back up the hall.

This man was a complete mystery. One moment he appeared stoic and aloof, and the next, he was this completely different person with a daughter whom he obviously loves to pieces, and had feelings, and who somehow cares about her well being. The transition was almost as jarring as seeing him transform from normal human man to aristocratic Taiyoukai.

Sesshomaru was so impossibly perfect, and she was supposedly this man's soul mate. The poor guy had obviously drawn the short straw with her. She felt like she was in that "One-Of-These-Things-Just-Doesn't-Belong-Here" game, and she was the thing that didn't belong.

Slumping over to the bed, Kagome collapsed onto the cushy mattress and was out like a light bulb. Obviously, she was more tired than she thought.

AN. That's it for this week. Chapter five is already in progress. I don't have any experience knowing anyone who is selectively mute, but I tried to make Rin's recovery time somewhat realistic. I mean she was only like 5 or so, but still, If you know anyone or you yourself have dealt with this before, feel free to correct me and I will edit my story to match. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

See you all next week!

~Cassiopeia


	5. Did She Just Call Me Mom?

Kagome awoke from her nap to the sound of bouncy small feet pounding down the hallway to her bedroom. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Kagome looked at the bedroom door just in time to catch the little ball of energy crashing through the entrance and rolling onto her bed, stopping with her face only inches from Kagome's. Blinking in surprise, Kagome took in the face which she assumed belonged to the little Rin she had heard about. The young girl had warm chocolate brown eyes which sparkled with mischief, and she possessed dark wavy walnut hair. Her skin lightly tanned and freckled from long hours playing in the sun, and her cherry blossom lips parted in a wide grin revealing brilliant pearly teeth in endearingly crooked little rows with one missing tooth right in front creating a little gap through which her pink little tongue peaked out.

"Hi! My name is Rin. You must be the Lady that Sesshomaru-sama told me about! He didn't tell me you were pretty. You are very pretty! Are you gonna be my mommy? I hope you are. I always wanted a pretty mommy like you!" Rin spoke at 1,000 miles an hour and grinned the whole time. The little girl was such a ball of smiles and energy that Kagome soon found herself smiling right along with her.

"Aw, thanks Rin. My name is Kagome," she replied. "I hope I get to be your Mommy, you seem like a very sweet girl." Kagome looked up to see none other than her silver-haired savior leaning against her door post, watching the little girl fondly. Suddenly their eyes met and Kagome blushed a little.

"Rin."

The little girl whipped around to look at the man. "Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Why don't you go to the office and do your homework. We'll all have dinner together tonight, and you can ask all the questions you want, then."

"Okay!" the little girl rolled off the bed and zipped back out of the room.

Kagome giggled as she watched the girl leave. "She's cute."

"Hmmm..." Sesshomaru hummed as though he hadn't noticed, but Kagome saw straight through his facade. Walking into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed, he placed the back of his hand on her forehead. "How are you feeling."

Closing her eyes and leaning into the coolness of his hand, Kagome answered him. "Feeling better all the time."Kagome frowned a little. "Why does it feel so good when you touch me?" Realizing the possible implications of her words she immediately amended them with "I mean, Physical contact, in general, feels nice, but what is it about physical contact with you? For example, due to the lack of human contact these last few years, any touch I receive is relished, and it felt nice when the nurse at the clinic touched me. But with you, it's... different somehow. I feel more relaxed, your hands feel **good**. I don't know if that makes any sense but..." She was so flustered by her first statement, she didn't even realize that she had shared such a personal detail about her life.

Sesshomaru frowned at her remark about her life, but, removing his hand, he answered her question. "A Mate's touch has many benefits, one of which is the ability to calm and placate an anxious Mate. This is usually utilized in cases of an agitated male, where the female would be able to calm and divert his attention, but it works the other direction as well."

"That explains a lot. We aren't technically mated yet though, are we?"

"No, we're not, however, many effects of the bond do occur before the ceremony. They aid in bringing the fated couple closer together, and strengthening their bond."

"Oh, that makes sense" Kagome nodded.

"Care to explain your other remark?" He was staring her down now, and Kagome felt slightly uncomfortable under his obvious scrutiny.

"Right..." she muttered under her breath, suddenly remembering what she had shared...

"If you need to wait then th..."

"No" Kagome cut him off. "This conversation was bound to happen eventually." She glared down at the comforter covering her lap.

"You don't have to share everything at once." He said softly.

She laughed nervously. "That's good. I'm not sure I'm ready to share everything just yet."

He sat quietly, expectantly. Though his posture was stiff, his eyes were soft. Supportive.

"It started in Jr. High I think. This one girl started harassing me. It wasn't anything serious, I don't even think she ever actually hit me, but she made little comments. Said things in the halls, the bathrooms. It didn't take long for her friends, and eventually the rest of the school to catch on. I don't remember everything that was said, but one of the most common things was about how repulsive I had to be to drive my father away from our family."Kagome paused, took a deep breath, then continued "I knew in the beginning that she was wrong. I told myself to ignore her, every time she made the nasty comments, but when you hear the same thing for so long... you start believing it... Eventually, everyone started avoiding me in the halls. It was the opposite of what you might describe as typical bullying. Nobody pushed me in the halls. Nobody hit me or beat me in the bathrooms or during gym. Actually, when I did walk down the hall to get to class, everyone cleared a path to avoid even bumping shoulders with me. It was the cruelest form of abuse they could have come up with. Eventually, I actually started wishing that somebody _would_ hit me. At least it would be some form of human contact."

Sesshomaru was silent for many minutes after hearing this. It was a disturbing concept. "What about at home? Surely your Mother..."

"My mother was too busy drowning herself in romance novels and alcohol to be bothered hugging her children. And my brother was so busy playing video games that he only left his room for food, and for school. I cooked, cleaned, and got a part-time job in high school to help with the rent. Before you ask, my job was sorting mail and paperwork, and I was the only person in my department. There was an occasional handshake with employees, but most of them went to school with me, and avoided me at all costs."

Sesshomaru was shocked. Most demons require a certain amount of social and physical contact with their own kind to survive. Dog and Wolf demons more so than most. In fact, many wolves lived in pack homes, and the single adult wolves in these packs slept in something a friend of his liked to call a puppy pile, wherein they all sleep in one big heap of snuggly wolves. Families acted the same way, children often sharing a bed with parents, unless of course mom and dad needed a night away. In Sesshomaru's family, though nobody was quite that clingy, there was a lot of physical affection. It took a while for Sesshomaru to tolerate his half-breed brother's existence, but eventually, even they shared occasional hugs and friendly "bro touches" which consisted usually of playful punches and shoves.

Sesshomaru didn't know much of human's psychological needs, but he did know that human's also required at least a minimal amount of physical affection and contact, which was why very lonely humans often find solace in a pet such as a dog or a cat. For Kagome to have gone so long without either human or familial contact, He couldn't fathom the damage that could have caused to her psyche. The fact that there was more, that she was unwilling to share at the moment was just depressing.

Sesshomaru knew what needed to be done. He opened his arms and looked her dead in the eye, "Come"

Kagome didn't need any convincing. She untangled herself from the blankets and crawled over to him, allowing herself to be lifted into his lap. She felt his strong arms wrap around her, and her muscles completely relaxed. Closing her eyes, she listened to the steady beat of his Demon's heart. One arm wrapped confidently around he waist, supporting her, while his other hand traveled up her back and began stroking her long black tresses. His long pianist's fingers combing through her hair in a gentle, calming rhythm that sent shivers down her spine. How long had it been since anyone had held her like this? Kagome couldn't remember, but right now it felt so good it almost brought her to tears. Eventually, Kagome found the courage to wiggle her arms free and snake them up around his neck, clinging to him for dear life, her fingers tangling themselves up in his unsurprisingly silky white strands.

"Thank you." She whispered. Those were the only words she could muster in that moment, and they seemed to pale in comparison to the gratitude she was feeling right at that moment, but he understood, and he held her tighter. She needed this, and He was her Mate. Who better than him to step into her life and touch that place in her heart, that place that had been so neglected, for so long.

They sat like that for several minutes until Sesshomaru muttered that they should probably decide what they wanted for dinner and order before it got too late in the afternoon.

"Order from where? Are we getting take out?" Kagome asked him.

"No. This particular apartment complex does "room service" of a sort. Normally Rin's babysitter stays and makes her dinner, but tonight is a special occasion, so I told her to take the night off."

"Oh. That's kinda cool. Our apartment never did that. What's on the menu?"

"Not sure. I don't use it often enough to know. The menu is probably in the kitchen."

Kagome wriggled out of Sesshomaru's hold, and stood up, straightening out her wrinkled dress. "Let's go take a look then!" She waited for Sesshomaru to stand up before she practically skipped out the door and down the hall to the kitchen.

Ever since being forced to actually eat real food at the clinic, Kagome's appetite had improved. Not only that, but Kagome had noticed that after waking up in that hospital bed, her appreciation for food had returned as well. All this, plus the novelty of having room service in her new home, Kagome was ecstatic to try out this menu.

Just as Kagome found the menu, hanging on the wall by the fridge, right where the cleaning lady probably put it, Rin came bouncing into the kitchen as well.

"Da..." seeing Kagome she immediately amended her speech "Sesshomaru-sama... um, can you help me with this problem, it's the last one I have left."

"Of course. Kagome, you can review the menu. Rin and I will be right back." He replied as he and Rin disappeared back to the office.

Kagome took the menu to the dining room table and sat down. Opening it up and scanning the pages.

Back in the office, Sesshomaru helped Rin to figure out her problem. Just as they were finishing up though, Rin asked a question that threw our stoic Taiyoukai for a miniature loop. "Can I call miss Kagome 'Mommy'?"

Sesshomaru gave the child an inquiring look. The little girl had her head bowed slightly, and she was blushing a little. "You have to ask her that, Rin. It's her decision, not mine."

"So, If she says yes, then I can?"

"Yes. Isn't that what I just said? And also, I believe I told you that you only have to call me 'Sesshomaru-sama' when you are at the office with me, or with the babysitter. Kagome is hopefully going to be this one's Mate. No need to be formal around her."

The girl's eyes lit up like little candles. "You mean it? Is she gonna be with us forever?"

"That is the plan little one." Sesshomaru smiled for the girl.

"Yay!" forgetting all about her homework, Rin jumped up and ran around the room twice, jumped up and captured her Daddy in a big hug before bouncing out of the room to bombard her new "Mommy".

Rin found Kagome still sitting at the table, pouring over the menu still. Clamoring up into the chair opposite her, Rin watched her for a few seconds before calling the young woman's attention. "Miss Kagome."

Looking up from the American section of the elaborate menu, Kagome acknowledged the beaming child before her. "Yes, sweetie?"

"Um, can Rin... I mean can I um..." she suddenly grew nervous, wringing her little hands in the hem of her shirt. "Is it okay if... Would you mind if I called you... Mommy" she whispered out the final word, almost as though she dare not hope that this young woman would allow her such a privilege.

Kagome looked at the trembling child before her. She was almost at a loss for words. She had literally just met this girl not two hours ago, and already the girl wanted to call her "mommy". In fact, from the moment this little girl came careening into her bedroom she had been asking Kagome if she would be her mother. Obviously this girl needed a mother figure, and obviously, the babysitter wasn't cutting it.

The longer Kagome waited to answer, the closer the girl came to melting into a puddle of tears and embarrassment. Until finally the young woman answered her.

"Of course you can sweetheart!" Kagome said "Why would you think otherwise? You can call me whatever you like."

Rin immediately brightened back up and practically crawled over the table into Kagome's lap. Wrapping her arms up around Kagome's neck, the girl asked "Really? You mean it?"

"Of course!" Kagome grinned, then giggled. "Who wouldn't want an adorable little girl like you for a daughter?"

Rin shot Kagome a playfully indignant stare. "I'm not little."

Kagome let out a clear laugh and gave the not-little-girl a little squeeze. "Silly me. Of course, you're not little. You're a mature young lady." She answered the indignant child. "So what would her ladyship like to eat for dinner tonight?"

After pretending to examine the menu closely, Rin came back with the classic childish answer. "Macaroni and Cheese!"

Kagome pretended a little bow. "Your wish is my command Rin-sama." She couldn't help her amusement at the idea of the sophisticated Sesshomaru eating Mac & Cheese. For some reason, she just couldn't picture it.

Kagome grinned as Sesshomaru walked in the door, and she and Rin both shared conspiratorial glances before they both exploded in a fit of giggles.

Sesshomaru, being who he was, raised one shapely brow incredulously as though to ask what he was missing. His facial expression only served to feed the fire of the two giggling females at the table. Their laughter was so contagious that his face soon betrayed him and he cracked a small amused smile.

As the girls calmed down, Rin announced that they were eating Mac & Cheese tonight, and Sesshomaru called the order at the front desk.

As Kagome helped Rin set the table, she mulled over the idea that this could be her life. She was apparently this man... this demon's Mate. If she chose to stay with him after her recovery was over, she could be a part of this little family. She could be needed. She could BELONG. Kagome smiled again, an occurrence that was happening more and more often since she had woken up in that hospital bed. Kagome decided she liked the way she felt here. She still wasn't sure about the whole lifetime commitment thing, seeing as she still hardly knew this guy, but the idea was definitely starting to grow on her. For now, she decided, she would stay, and she would make her final judgment after her recovery time was up. It could be a trial run of sorts.

**AN. First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to the people who have stuck with the story so far. The votes and reviews are very much appreciated. I love hearing from everyone.**

**As always, constructive criticism is welcome, I like to keep my stories as factually accurate as possible.**

**See you all next week!**

**~Cassie**


	6. Night Terrors

As Kagome got ready for bed that night, she couldn't stop thinking of what had happened at dinner. All things considered, the meal was pretty normal. That is until Rin dropped a spoon full of the gooey 4 cheese pasta into her lap when she wasn't looking. Kagome had suppressed a giggle as the girl picked up the noodles with her fingers and gave the offensive things a little glare for not going where they were supposed to. Once the few noodles were safely in a napkin, her hands were then covered in the orange cheese sauce. Picking up a clean napkin and trying to clean her hands, the paper square only made matters worse by spreading the mess. Kagome could no longer contain her laughter. Indignant, the child scooped up a spoonful of the greasy, cheesy, orange deliciousness, and flicked it at Kagome. Of course, Kagome had to defend her honor and thus was required to retaliate with a spoonful of her own, which landed right in Rin's raven locks. A minor food fight ensued, and when both girls noticed Sesshomaru's deliberate attempts at quietly trying to eat his own food, enemies were suddenly allies as they both grinned at each other and took aim at the poor unassuming taiyoukai. Needless to say, they all three needed baths by the end of the meal, and so did the dining room.

After her shower, Kagome had cleaned up the mess from dinner, and as she was walking back to her room, she caught sight of the proud youkai tucking his little girl into bed. The scene was both heartwarming, and heart-wrenching all at the same time. Watching the two interact this afternoon, Kagome felt just a little jealous. Her father left when she was younger than Rin. The memories she had with her father, even those were not as sweet as what she witnessed today. Walking back to her room, Kagome wondered bitterly what her life might have been like had her father never left in the first place. Perhaps she might have met Sesshomaru under happier circumstances.

Slipping into the oversized button up shirt that she assumed Sesshomaru had left on her bed for her, she dropped the soiled green and white dress into the wicker laundry basket by the door before crawling under the covers and trying to get to sleep. Unfortunately, the sleep she sought was harder to grab ahold of than she wished. Kagome turned this way and that, trying to get comfortable, eventually settling on her side and counting the little dips in the textured paint on the wall. After what felt like hours, but in actuality was only about 5 minutes, sleep finally settled its dark wings around her shoulders, drawing her to the warmth and comfort of the nothingness.

...

After changing out of his cheese stained shirt and tucking Rin into bed, Sesshomaru made his way out to the dining room only to find that Kagome must have already cleaned up. Walking to the kitchen, he found the counters cleared and the dishwasher already loaded and running. Smiling appreciatively, he headed back to his room to take a nice hot shower before bed.

One of the many things which Sesshomaru appreciated about modern technology was running water. There were a few thing that he did not appreciate quite as much, such as the thickly polluted air of the cities, but there were ways to get away from most of that, if one knew where to go. Hot showers though... A good hot spring was relaxing, sure, but nothing beats the rhythmic pitter-patter of hot water against ones back to relax the mind and soothe the muscles after a long day. That, and, as a demon with a sharp nose, he also appreciated the human's modern standards of cleanliness, though he could do without the strong perfumes and colognes.

After he was showered and in his flannel pajama pants and loose tee that he typically wore to bed, he peeked through the door separating his room from Kagome's, mostly to ease his restless beast, and to assure himself that she was indeed sleeping. Stalking silently into the room, he found her sprawled carelessly on the bed, the blankets flung carelessly to the foot of the mattress.

Shaking his head bemusedly at her, he pulled the blankets up and tucked them under her chin. He brushed her ebony hair from her face, his molten gold eyes making out her features perfectly in the dark room. Her expression was so unguarded in sleep. It was reassuring to see her face without the undertones of mistrust and pain that seemed to permanently haunt her features.

They had only spent a week or two together, but the bond was growing ever stronger, and even though their conversations had been few and far between, he felt the beginnings of something warm growing in his chest whenever he looked at the girl. It was only a spark, just a minuscule little thing, but sparks have been known to start wildfires under the right conditions. Giving one last look at the sleeping young woman before shutting the door and slipping into his own bed, he thought he felt the spark bloom into a small flame. Still, it wasn't much, but it was a start.

...

Kagome woke with a start, breathing hard and sweat dripping down her face. It was that nightmare again. She hadn't had one since Sesshomaru saved her. She knew they would come back eventually, but she had hoped she might have more time, but alas, life was ever her cruel mistress.

Closing her eyes tightly, she saw their judgemental faces. in the silence of the room, she could still hear their taunting words. Opening her eyes was no help, her room was pitch black. Coming to a reckless and rather hasty decision, Kagome sat up and crawled out of her bed. With he mind still foggy with sleep, and desperate to escape the lurking nightmares, Kagome remembered Sesshomaru's words from earlier today. "A Mate's touch has many benefits..."

Padding over to the door, she opened it into his room and walked straight to his bed. Feeling for the edge of the blanket, she hesitated only a moment before she quietly borrowed under them, tentatively reaching for his hand. she found an arm and followed it to a hand which closed over hers as soon as their fingers touched. Being careful to let only their fingers touch, she settled herself and closed her eyes, letting sleep once again claim her.

...

Sesshomaru woke to the sound of his door opening quietly. He lay still, pretending to still be asleep. He assumed that it was Rin seeking comfort after one of her rare nightmares and that she would just crawl into bed and go back to sleep. He was mildly surprised because Rin hadn't had a nightmare in 2 years.

He felt the mattress dip, and suddenly realized that the female crawling into his bed was too large to be Rin, and this scent belonged to Kagome, not Rin. Maintaining his silent facade, he felt and listened to Kagome settle herself under his covers. He felt a searching hand grab hold of his forearm and slide down to grasp his hand. He smiled and closed his hand around hers, lacing their fingers together. Listening to her, he waited for her breathing to slow until he was sure she was asleep once again. He could smell the remnants of fear and despair on her and assumed that it must have been a nightmare. He would have laughed at the coincidence, had his mate not been trying to sleep right next to him.

The fates must think him a more gentle and patient man than anyone who had ever met him, knew him to be. First the fragile Rin, and now Kagome. Maybe he just had an odd penchant for strays, who knows. Whatever the case, Sesshomaru turned and leaned over the vulnerable woman. Kissing her raven hair, he lay back down and slipped back into his own sleep.

For the first time since their meeting, the two fated soulmates peacefully shared a bed together, and neither were disturbed by their nightmares.

**AN. Hey guys, sorry this is a little late, and it is so much shorter than I wanted this chapter to be. Oh well, I'll make the next one better. This chapter was mostly fluff and filler anyway. I am in the process of developing the next chapter so please have patience with me. Sorry.**

**Thanks again to everyone who has been leaving comments and reviews. Votes and saves are very much appreciated, I love hearing from all of you.**

**Cassie**


	7. Meeting The In laws

AN. Apologies for the shortness of the last chapter, things will start moving a little more purposefully from here on out.

Kagome woke slowly the next morning, stretching lazily she moved to sit up, only to find something around her waist restraining her. Lifting the blanket and looking down she found a fair skinned solidly muscled arm wound securely around her waist. Upon further inspection, Kagome also found a long white furry boa type thing wound around her left leg. After several moments of confusion, Kagome remembered crawling into Sesshomaru's bed and realized that the white thing must be what he had called his "Moko-moko". Apparently, it is a part of his true form that is leftover after his transformations, and he adamantly protested to her calling it a tail.

As soon as the weight of her current position settled in, Kagome blushed several shades of red. Apparently, her intended was more puppy-like than he preferred to admit. Kagome almost giggled when she felt him burrow his face into her bedraggled hair before she attempted to wriggle herself free of his hold. Her efforts proved useless of course, but she tried her best anyway. Just as she was giving up, she felt the inu behind her stir. Managing to turn her body onto her other side, she watched Sesshomaru wake up and come out of his sleepy haze. Honey gold eyes blinked open and gazed back into her smooth chocolaty brown ones.

"Good morning little Mate" He practically purred.

Blushing about three shades darker, Kagome stuttered out a tiny "morning".

"Mind telling me what you're doing in my bed this morning? Mate?"

Ducking her head under the pillow Kagome muttered out her answer, sounding defeated. "I had a nightmare..."

Sesshomaru's sleepy smirk didn't falter. "So you decided to crawl into bed with a demon." He stated rather than asking.

"W-well..." Kagome was so embarrassed she could hardly string any kind of coherent sentence together. "I kinda thought that... Well, I remembered what you said about a mates touch being able to help soothe an agitated partner, I figured it was worth a shot..." She pulled the pillow away from her face to shoot him a sheepish look.

Sesshomaru sobered. That did explain her crawling into his bed in the middle of the night.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to be a bother..." Kagome averted her gaze to the mattress. Had his arm and Moko-moko not been restraining her still, she would have made a dash for her own room.

Had he not just spent two weeks with the woman, he would have been baffled with her apology. As it was though he knew she was still unfamiliar with the world she was now a part of. "Do not apologize for something so inconsequential. You acted well within your rights as my mate. Besides what man in his right mind wouldn't want to wake up to a pretty face like yours." He smirked again as he reached out a hand to gently brush some hair out of her face.

Kagome looked even more embarrassed. "Sorry."

Sesshomaru gave her a look that clearly told her the second apology was even more unnecessary than the first. "You do not need to apologize to me. If I hear you say sorry to me again today I'll be forced to reprimand you." He smirked wickedly.

After a moment Kagome laughed meekly. "Sor- I mean... um... okay..."

Eventually, the two managed to detangle from each other and the bed sheets and get dressed. Seeing as the only proper clothing Kagome had at the moment was covered in cheese sauce, she dressed in an oversized T-shirt and too large drawstring sweatpants.

At the breakfast table that morning, Sesshomaru received a call on his house phone. when he sat back down after answering he gave Kagome a strange look.

"What is it?"

"That was my stepmother just now."

"What did she want?"

"She wanted to know if she and my father could visit today."

Kagome looked surprised. "What did you tell her?"

Sesshomaru stood up and took Rin's cereal bowl to the kitchen as Rin herself went to her bedroom to get dressed for the day. "I told her I would ask you if you were ready to meet them before giving them an answer."

"Oh..." Kagome took her own dish to the kitchen. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He finished rinsing the bowls and turned to face the young woman. "If I give my mother the affirmative, you will be meeting them as my betrothed. I know you haven't made a permanent decision yet, so until then, I was hoping put that particular introduction off, if only for a little while."

Kagome could understand his reasoning. "How long has she known about me?"

"I had to tell them in order for arrangements to be made at the company while I was away. My family has known about you since shortly after I found you."

Kagome gave a nervous smile. "I think they've waited long enough then."

Sesshomaru gave her a shocked look. "You do know what you're agreeing to."

Kagome blushed a little. "I know. And I know that It hasn't been long, but even I feel the connection to you. I don't know if that means I'm ready for a lifetime commitment just yet, but I think I'm okay to meet your parents. After all, they can't be so bad." She gave him a meek smile.

He smiled gently back at her. "You know it might be good for you to meet Izayoi. She is a human too, so even though her experience won't be exactly the same as yours, it is similar. She might be able to answer some of the questions that I cant."

"She is? That's actually kind of comforting, she should understand some of the cultural differences and help me to adapt."

"Exactly."

...

Sesshomaru's family knocked on his door at about noon. They had a nice civil lunch together, and afterward, while Sesshomaru and Toga cleaned the dishes, Kagome and Izayoi sat in the sitting room watching Rin play with her dollhouse which she had pulled out of a cabinet on the wall.

Izayoi watched the young woman beside her for several minutes. She was so young, younger than Izayoi had been when she first met Toga Taisho. She had been at least 20 back then. Of course, she was around 80 years old now, though she certainly didn't look it. Perks of being Mated to a demon. "So You're the one the fates chose for our Sesshomaru."

Kagome looked abashedly at the woman beside her. "That is the way it would appear."

"Pretty crazy, isn't it. Once you know that youkai exist, suddenly there is a whole new world out there that you always just dismissed as myth or fairytale." The woman's eyes glazed over slightly, as though she were looking out far past where Kagome sat.

The younger woman chuckled slightly. "When Sesshomaru first told me what he was I accused him of trying to pull a fast one on me. It took him baring his very real fangs at me for me to actually contemplate the idea that he might be telling me the truth. I believe he almost transformed there in the patient room."

Izayoi chuckled. That was something Sesshomaru would do. "I imagine he did. How are you faring now."

Kagome took a deep breath and sighed. "As well as can be, I guess. I mean considering the situation."

Izayoi looked puzzled for a moment. "Situation? Sesshomaru sold us he was staying at the hospital with you the last couple weeks, what happened."

Kagome was surprised. She had assumed he had told his parents everything. "He didn't tell you?"

"No, dear. He only told us it wasn't his story to tell."

Kagome smiled then. "Did he?" Sesshomaru had been nothing but kind and considerate since she had met him, if a little stand-offish at times.

"He did. Not to be overly nosy, but what did happen?"

Kagome's face dropped. She looked down at the fluffy eggshell carpet and folded her knees close to her chest on the black leather couch on which the two ladies were sitting. After a deep breath, she answered. "I um... I tried to... I tried to kill myself. I almost succeeded. By the time Sesshomaru found me I had almost bled out in that bathtub." Kagome's voice was hushed as she recounted the details of how she and Sesshomaru met. Partially because there were young ears in the room, and Kagome didn't want Rin to hear this. The other part was the deep sense of shame that was brought on as she thought about How selfish she must sound to the woman in front of her.

Izayoi's bubbly demeanor shifted and sobered as soon as Kagome's explanation began. What could have driven this young woman before her to such extremes? Part of her respected her son for not telling her, the other part was a little miffed that he hadn't warned her. Had she known how serious the situation had been, she would have been more sensitive to the situation. She could have been more careful in her query.

Scooting closer on the couch, the older woman reached out to the fragile girl and tugged her into a warm embrace. "Come here, dear. I'm sorry to have asked so indelicately. I don't know what you've been through, but I'll be here for you to talk to, and our Sesshomaru's a good man, he won't let you down."

Kagome was startled by the sudden show of seemingly random affection. At first, Kagome stiffened, expecting just a brief hug, but the more Izayoi held her, the more she relaxed into the embrace. Pretty soon the tears were back, and Kagome curled up into the motherly woman's arms as she once again just let go.

"That's right hon." The elder woman crooned. "Just let it all out, you'll feel much better after you do."

A few seconds later Sesshomaru came into the room followed by his father, both bearing similarly worried looks on their faces. Looking down at his mate curled up in his step mother's arms bawling her poor eyes out, he walked back to the kitchen, coming back with a box of tissues, and sitting down on the couch behind the crying girl. After a few seconds of coaxing, and soothing, Kagome crawled from Izayoi's lap to Sesshomaru's and sat there enveloped in his strong arms until she had calmed down and taken the tissues offered by her soon-to-be mother in law.

At this point, Toga had long since taken little Rin to her bedroom to read some picture books, while Sesshomaru and Izayoi attended to the distressed young woman.

"What exactly did you say to her?" Asked the worried male.

Kagome giggled and hiccuped. "It wasn't her fault Sesshomaru. She was only curious."

Sesshomaru sent his stepmother a reproachful stare. "You asked why she was in the hospital, didn't you?"

Izayoi looked appropriately repentant. "I was curious. I suppose I should have waited, and taken the cue from you when you told me it was not "Your story" to tell."

Sesshomaru refrained from making the sarcastic remark that lingered on the tip of his tongue.

"It's okay. Honest" Kagome spoke up, the hiccups lessening now. "It's getting easier to talk about. They do say it helps to talk about your problems."

Izayoi gave a knowing smile. "Well like I said, You are always welcome to come talk to me."

Sesshomaru reached down and gave his mates hand a little squeeze, almost as if to say, 'I'm here for you too'. Kagome felt so overwhelmingly cared for at this moment, she almost started crying again.

...

Later that afternoon Izayoi managed to coerce Kagome into agreeing to go shopping with her that coming weekend. Her argument for going was reasonable after all, and Kagome couldn't wear Sesshomaru's clothing forever.

During this time Kagome had not had hardly any chance to get to know Sesshomaru's father, Toga Taisho, until Izayoi pulled Sesshomaru into a separate room, allegedly to give him some advice on introducing Kagome slowly into her new role as her mate.

After several minutes of sitting awkwardly in the silent sitting room Toga finally decided to break the ice. "So how has my son been behaving?" He inquired, as though she were a school teacher, and Sesshomaru was a misbehaving child.

Kagome almost smirked at the analogy. If anything it was the other way around, but she answered his question regardless. "Your son has been nothing but gentlemanly."

This time it was Toga who smirked. "Oh really? I would have thought that after waiting over 600 years to find you, he would have been overly anxious to complete the mating bond. Human or not."

Kagome looked puzzled. "Complete? I wasn't aware you had to do something. Is it like a wedding or something?" Kagome was genuinely curious.

Toga looked baffled. "Sesshomaru never told you?"

Kagome blushed, "I never thought to ask. Why? What else is there?"

Toga looked thoughtful, as though considering whether he should explain it, or let her mate do it. Eventually he decided to let his son handle that particular explanation, besides, this young woman probably did not want to hear that talk from her soon-to-be father in law. "I think I'll let Sesshomaru explain that one." He shot her a wry look. "Besides..." he continued "I suppose he has had some more pressing concerns on his mind."

Kagome then remembered what Sesshomaru had told her about demons having heightened senses, and supposed Toga ad probably heard her conversation with his Mate. "He has been very patient with me," Kagome said, sobering.

Toga gave her a compassionate look. "You two have a long road ahead of you, and it won't get any easier from here on out. You're just lucky you were paired with Sesshomaru and not my other son." He joked. "Inuyasha's is more of an immature pain in the ass than he is worth at this moment. Of course, to be fair, he hasn't yet reached Mating age."

Kagome's face blanched. Inuyasha? Now there was a name she had hoped to never hear again. Trying desperately to not let her panic show, she gave the Fatherly looking demon before her a nervous smile. "Haha, Yeah..." Kagome faked a laugh and hoped that Toga would let it pass.

Seeing her facial expression, the Inu looked worriedly at the young woman but was unsure whether to ask her about it or not. Just at that moment, however, Sesshomaru and Izayoi reentered the room, and the conversation took a more cheerful direction.

Eventually, Sesshomaru's parent's left the couple to the rest of their night, and headed home. in the car on the way to their home on the outskirts of Tokyo Izayoi smiled. "They'll be good for each other. I can feel it."

Toga, on the other hand, was still worried. What on earth would draw that sort of a reaction from the young girl at the mention of his youngest son's name? All toga could think of was 'What has that pup done now?'

AN. Bit of a cliffy, sorry. What DID Inuyasha do this time? hmmm...

As always, the next chapter will be up next week. Constructive criticism welcome, or just goofy comments, I wanna hear what you thought. :)

Thanks again to all of my faithful readers, Your comments never fail to make me smile.

Just a quick note to any of you that might be interested in following me elsewhere My username on Tumblr is _mischievousartfairie_ Or you can find me on twitter as ArtFairieCass Look forward to hearing from all of you.


	8. Explanations Part 2

Kagome sat on her bed, silently fretting. Now that she knew they were related it was hard to ignore the family resemblance between the two brothers. Thinking back now, she wasn't sure how she could have missed something so obvious. The long silver hair, the unnerving honey gold eyes, the same fair complexion and masculine facial structure. Inuyasha was Sesshomaru's younger brother, no question about it.

There were differences obviously, but when Sesshomaru wore his human disguise one would have to look very closely to see them. The most striking difference, however, was Inuyasha's rough and rowdy demeanor. He was all grit and nails, while Sesshomaru was much more refined, calm, and diplomatic, though most would probably just called him cold or stoic. Inuyasha was a wild card with a fiery temper, and Sesshomaru was a bit of an icicle when he wasn't being a snuggly puppy.

Thinking of Inuyasha's temper made Kagome shiver at the memories. He and that girlfriend of his were a match made in hell, and nobody in their school dared to cross them. They were both inseparable, and formidable. Inuyasha was the captain of the Kendo club, and his girlfriend and accomplice Kikyo was the captain of the archery club. **(Sorry for this cliche but...)**

In all actuality, Kagome used to have a total crush on Inuyasha back in 6th grade, before he started dating Kikyo, and Kikyo had been her best friend since kindergarten. Everyone always said that the girls held a striking resemblance, and the two took advantage of that to get into all kinds of mischief together. They tricked teachers and classmates alike, and they loved it. They shared secrets, and they always had each other's backs. Kagome was always a bit shy, and Kikyo pushed her out of her comfort zone, forced her to interact with people, and if anyone dared to teas Kagome, Kikyo made sure that they never did so again. Together they were unbreakable.

Nothing lasts forever though, and come 6th grade Kikyo and Kagome learned that they each liked the same boy. At first, the competition was playful, Kikyo being bold, outgoing and flirty, while Kagome was shy and awkward in her pursuits. Looking back now, such a competition seemed childish, they hadn't even reached her teens yet. Unfortunately for Kagome, Inuyasha began to like Kikyo, and Kikyo began to perceive Kagome as a threat, so she did the unthinkable. She used the conversations she had had with Kagome, in confidence, against her. All the worries and insecurities that Kagome had poured out to her friend about losing her father were suddenly the ammunition used to bite Kagome in the ass.

Kikyo had been the one to start the rumors, to start the teasing. She already had popularity, and influence in their friend groups and she used it. The cruelest thing she ever did though, was to first convince Inuyasha of how detestable Kagome was to her own father, and then reveal that Kagome liked him, Inuyasha. Of course, Inuyasha couldn't believe the audacity, how dare Kagome think he could ever like someone whose own father couldn't even stand her. The rumors only got worse after that, because now Inuyasha was spreading them also. By the time they reached high school, every member of the student body treated Kagome like a leper.

And now Inuyasha would be her brother in law, of all things. Sitting and wallowing in her misery, the only thing that she could think at the moment was that anytime she managed to gain some kind of traction with her life, the universe found some way to tear all her supports out from under her, and it continued to happen again, and again, and again. 'Why me' replayed over and over in her mind like a broken record, and Kagome felt her self slowly slipping back into the darkness.

After seeing his Sire and stepmother off for the night, Sesshomaru went back to the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee before heading back to his office to catch up on some paperwork. There was this oddly persistent feeling in the back of his mind that something wasn't quite right, and it took him a moment to realize what it was. The apartment smelled wrong. It wasn't the lingering scents of the individuals who had been visiting, it was something else, and it was familiar. Then it clicked. That was the scent that lingered on Kagome when he had first found her. The undertones of depression and sadness had never really gon away, they just dulled, which Sesshomaru assumed was why it took him longer than it should have to notice that those smells had suddenly spiked.

Standing from his desk and heading briskly back towards his Mate's room he also sensed notes of profound hopelessness and many other complicated emotions that were so tangled up that he couldn't pick out the individual names of them, couldn't discern where one began and another ended. When he knocked and there was no response, Sesshomaru grew worried. "Kagome? I'm coming in."

Opening the door to her room he was smacked in the face with an invisible heavy gloomy cloud of depressing darkness that seemed to be emanating from his Mate. He found her sitting on her bed just staring at the wall despondently. Eventually deciding on a course of action, Sesshomaru walked to her and sat on the mattress next to her, lightly touching her arm to alert her to his presence.

Kagome was so deep in the pit of despair that she had let herself sink into, that she didn't notice anyone in the room until she felt a light tingly sensation on her arm. latching on to the feeling she desperately crawled her way back to the light at the top, trying to escape the dark numbness that seemed to haunt her. She looked to the side to find Sesshomaru sitting next to her, and she felt herself begin to warm, and the emotions all came rushing to the surface.

She threw herself at the now very shocked inutaiyokai beside her and clung on to him for dear life feeling the dam break and the tears come gushing forth.

Sesshomaru sat stiffly for a moment unsure of what exactly just happened but soon managed to shake off the surprise and wrap his arms around the trembling girl who now sat sprawled in his lap. What in the world had his father said to her? Sesshomaru was bewildered. His sire, Toga, was generally a very soft spoken and remarkably kind individual even among his human friends, let alone other demons. Unsure of how to broach this subject he decided to just let his little mate cry it all out, and then he would attempt to ask what had brought on such a volley of emotion from her.

Several minutes later, Kagome once again sat there in her Mate's lap, a trembly hiccupy mess, for the second time that day. Gently gathering Kagome up into his arms he moved them to his bed where he sat her down and wrapped a big fuzzy blanket around her shoulders before grabbing a soft warm damp towel for Kagome to wipe her face with. He was rewarded with a wobbly grateful smile and a self-reprimanding laugh as Kagome cleaned her tear stained cheeks.

"I am such a mess aren't I?" She handed back the washcloth. "I'm sorry, I ought to have better control than this."

"Don't apologize for being emotional, it's part of being human, and you, more than anyone have a good excuse for feeling such things. Though I can't for the life of me figure out what my father could have said to upset you so. He is usually much more considerate and sensitive to peoples emotions. A trait, I'm afraid, that I never really picked up."

Kagome looked confused for a moment before understanding lit up her features. "Oh, no, It wasn't anything that your father said, I mean it sort of is, but that's not the reason. I've just learned today that I'm going to have a brother in law."

Sesshomaru looked perplexed. "You are upset because I have a brother?"

Kagome shook her head. "Not that you have a brother, it's who that brother is..."

"You know Inuyasha?"

"You could say that..."

Sesshomaru was silent a moment. "How do you know my half-brother? What did he do to deserve such a reaction from you?"

Kagome now looked resigned. Her shoulders fell a little. "More like I used to know his girlfriend."

Sesshomaru was even more surprised now. "The Priestess? You know Kikyo?" Sesshomaru was beginning to wonder how in the world he had never met Kagome sooner. His world seemed to be shrinking by the day.

Kagome nodded. "We were best friends since Kindergarten."

Understanding began to dawn on Sesshomaru's face. "Were... not are."

"Yeah" Kagome recounted Kikyo's betrayal and Inuyasha's part in it. By the end, Sesshomaru was silently fuming.

"So the half-breed chose the priestess and yet she still felt the need to use your personal life to turn your friends against you..."

"Something like that. Don't worry about that though, it's in the past." Kagome touched his hand, "I was just so shocked to find out that you two were related, Your personalities are so different."

Sesshomaru managed to compose himself before replying. "He is young even by hanyou standards, I am not surprised by his reckless behavior, though his level of immaturity when Kikyo divulged your personal feelings for him is astounding. He should have been honored."

Kagome giggled slightly. "Not that your biased or anything"

He smirked back at her, "I would never allow myself to be swayed by something as juvenile as a personal bias."

Kagome heard the joking tone in his voice and was greatly relieved for the distraction from her dark thoughts. "Of course not. You are a great and wise Demon Lord, you could never stoop so low."

Sesshomaru was relieved to see the smile on her face, even if it still held the undertones of sadness, at least that cloud of depression was dispursed for now. Darkly, Sesshomaru considered hunting down his half-witted brother and avenging his little mate but thought better of it when he imagined the how Izayoi might retaliate. He decided it would be a better punishment to, instead, inform Izayoi and her mate of the damage done by the hanyou. They would be better suited to punishing him without killing him, and he figured Kagome would appreciate not being the reason that the halfbreed died.

After some meaningless banter back an forth late into the night, Kagome eventually fell asleep, and Sesshomaru tucked her in before making a phone call to his father.

...

The next morning came late, and Kagome once again found herself in a tangle of limbs and Moko-Moko. Remembering the events of last night, Kagome was glad that she had not fallen asleep in her own bed. She wasn't sure she could have handled the nightmares on top of the knowledge that if she stayed with Sesshomaru, Inuyasha would also be a part of her life. Managing to maneuver herself to lay facing the sleeping dog demon, she smiled gratefully. Kagome had never been one to believe in fate, but there had to be some kind of higher power out there that was on her side, for this man to be matched with her, despite the brutish brother in law.

Sesshomaru was patient, he was understanding, he was great at listening and offering comfort, and on top of all that, Kagome had to admit he was very attractive. Scratch that, this guy was drop dead gorgeous. He was way out of her league, and somehow they were meant for each other. The contradictions of their match were starting to make her head hurt, so she just lay there admiring the features of his face, when she felt the odd need to touch him. His face was so mesmerizing in sleep, and she just couldn't help herself, so she reached out with one hand and traced the planes of his face. She traced his jawline, nose, ran her fingers through his hair, then she traced the markings on his face. As soon as her fingers touched the lines on his cheek, however, she heard and felt a vibrating, rumbling... purr? emanating from his chest.

Kagome couldn't help herself, he just sounded so cute, which normally was a word that didn't belong anywhere near the demon before her. She giggled and reached for the crescent moon on his forehead when a clawed hand darted out of the covers and grabbed her wrist, effectively stopping her assault on his person.

One burning golden eye peeked open to stare at her. "Unless you want to complete the mating bond here and now, in this bed, I suggest you stop there." His voice still rough with sleep.

Kagome wasn't sure what that meant, but the implications made her shiver slightly. That and his morning voice was about the sexiest damn thing this little Miko had heard in her life. Blushing slightly, Kagome got up the nerve to ask. "Your dad mentioned something like that last night, what do you mean 'complete the mating bond' I wasn't aware that we had to do anything else."

Sesshomaru looked perplexed, hadn't he explained that to her? He supposed not, when he explained the mating bond to her he had been trying to introduce the idea of demons and mating to her gently. Had Sesshomaru not been who he was, he might have blushed in embarrassment at what he would have to tell her next. "I suppose I really only explained what a mate is, not how they are bonded, didn't I."

Kagome nodded.

"In order for the mating bond to be complete, two individuals must be united or bound, in both body and soul. The heart need not necessarily be included in the bonding, but it does strengthen the mating if it is." He gave her a moment for the implications of that sentence to settle in.

Kagome took a moment trying to process his words. "Body and soul?"

"There is generally a ceremony for higher ranking demons but it is not a necessary component for the bond, It's mostly there for family and allies or friends to witness their commitment, the actual bond, however, is forged on what you might call the wedding night." He hoped that explanation was a little more clear.

Kagome was still confused until the words 'wedding night' registered. What happens on the wedding night? Kagome was about to ask, but then she realized what he meant. "You mean that You and I..." Kagome blushed and stuttered... "We..." She couldn't get the words out, so Sesshomaru supplied them for her.

"Will have sex in order to complete the bond."

Kagome blushed a hot red, "Did you have to say it so bluntly?" she squeeked out.

Sesshomaru arched a brow at her, sitting up on the mattress. "How else should I have said it?" He leaned over her and brought his face so close to hers that their noses practically touched. "Would you prefer I used the phrase 'make love'?"

Kagome fell silent, at a complete loss for words. The expression on this man's face could only be described as downright seductive, His deep honey golden eyes smoldering at her from behind dark lashes. And the way that his long silver tresses fell around him, creating a curtain around their faces, made this moment feel all the more intimate. Kagome had the oddest urge to kiss him, but refrained, remembering what they had been talking about.

Sesshomaru smirked, "Don't fret too much about it" he assured, his voice deep and smooth "I'll make sure you thoroughly enjoy it." He flashed her a predatory smile when he emphasised the word 'thoroughly', showing off his perfectly sharp fangs, before sitting back up and walking to his bathroom.

Kagome heard a faucet turn and the sound of running water and decided he was probably taking a shower. Sitting there in _HIS_ bed, completely frozen she thought of his words. The way he had looked at her, she had felt like he might literally eat her. Finding the strength to slip out of his covers and pad back to her room, she found the green dress from two days ago washed, dried, and laying on her perfectly made bed.

Kagome shook her head. "He plays all tough, stoic, bad boy, but then he does stuff like this." she murmured to herself, grabbing the dress and heading to her own bathroom to shower before Sesshomaru took all the hot water. What she didn't know was that Sesshomaru was not taking a hot shower, a hot shower would not help him in the slightest at this particular moment in time. No, his shower was ice cold, and it still did little to help the poor inu.

**AN. Getting a little more than fluffy this morning I guess. So, Inuyasha wasn't directly responsible for the teasing, but he definitely didn't help matters. Geez, you would think that someone who grew up dealing with prejudices of other people would be a little more sensitive to bullying. Shame on you Yasha! Also, I guess Kikyo wasn't as good a friend as you thought Gome.**

**Anyway, as always comments are always appreciated. Constructive criticism is welcome. I hope y'all liked this chapter, 'cause I really enjoyed writing it. I am on Tumblr at ** **and you can also find me on Twitter as ArtFairieCass.**

**I'll be back with more next Monday. Till then lovelies! :)**

**Cassie**


	9. New Friends

The weekend came faster than Kagome would have liked. She wasn't quite ready to mingle in society yet, but Sesshomaru's stepmother was very persuasive, to make matters worse, however, Sesshomaru wasn't allowed to come. Apparently, it was a "Girls day" and Izayoi would be bringing a couple friends. Rin had asked to come too but was eventually convinced that it would be boring with a bunch of "old ladies" all day and decided instead to spend the day with Grandpa Toga.

When that dreaded knock on the door came Kagome was tempted to hide in her closet but decided to just grow a pair and get over herself. It's just one day at the mall after all. How bad could it be?

Izayoi came prepared with a few outfits in Kagome's size and made her do a little fashion show before she was finally happy with Kagome's apparel and they were ready to leave. They had finally decided on a light mint greet tee with a sweetheart neckline and three-quarter sleeves that flared on the ends, and a dark blue pair of distressed skinny jeans. Izayoi brushed and pulled Kagome's hair into a high ponytail for her as well as practically forcing Kagome to put on a thin layer of shimmery lip gloss. When all that was combined with a pair of worn out converse, Kagome looked like she wore these clothes all the time. Nobody would know they were hand-me-downs. Izayoi insisted that she looked "sexy". Kagome looked in the mirror and was forced to admit that she didn't look half bad, but she wouldn't go so far as to call herself sexy by any stretch of the imagination.

One thing did occur to Kagome before they left, however, and that was that she still had some pretty gnarly scars on her forearms, which had been covered by the dress she borrowed from her doctor's wife and the old dress shirts Sesshomaru had been letting her borrow. Eventually, after a little cajoling on Kagome's part, Izayoi was convinced to let her wear a light blue knit cardigan that went all the way down passed her fingertips and had to be scrunched up for her hands to be useful, but Kagome didn't care as long as the scars were covered, and bonus, the soft cashmere of the sweater didn't aggravate the still slightly raw skin.

Satisfied with her work, Izayoi had paraded Kagome out of her bedroom and in front of Sesshomaru, bragging rather childishly about her great success, and congratulating Sesshomaru on finding such a lovely young mate. Needless to say, poor Kagome was blushing redder than a maraschino cherry.

Sesshomaru was pleased with his stepmother's handiwork. She had a good eye for style and color and would make sure that his Mate didn't just opt for baggy sweaters and sturdy jeans which he was sure she would probably prefer right now. However, a day with Izayoi, finding styles that well became her natural beauty, and being loved on by his stepmother and her friends was, in Sesshomaru's "expert" opinion, exactly what the doctor ordered to possibly help Kagome regain a little of the self-esteem and respect that he was sure she used to have. He trusted Izayoi, even if the beginning of his relationship with his stepmother had been a little rocky, to begin with.

Sesshomaru smiled as he stood and walked around his desk to stand before his intended. "You look lovely little mate." he took her hands and kissed the top of her head. "Have fun today ladies. Mother, take my Debit card with you, use it for anything you think she needs." He reached into his pocket and handed his mother a glossy black card. "Do try not to bankrupt me though." He smirked and gave Izayoi a playful wink.

"Thank you, dear." Izayoi slipped it into her own wallet before reaching up and giving her stepson a kiss on the cheek. "When should I have her back?"

Sesshomaru glanced at Kagome. "Whenever you two feel like coming back is fine, just try not to stay out too late, Rin would like it if you helped tuck her in." He directed his last remark to Kagome who was still blushing from the kiss on the head. Sesshomaru almost chuckled at her reaction but refrained as he looked back to Izayoi.

"Understood." Turning and grabbing Kagome's hand she asked "Ready?"

Kagome nodded distractedly before following the older woman to the door.

"Oh, and mother..."

"Yes?" Izayoi paused and turned to her eldest.

"Call me if anything happens please." He suddenly looked slightly worried. Of course, this would be the longes they will have been apart since he found her, and he wasn't sure how either of them would take it.

"Of course dear," The motherly woman responded with an understanding smile. Izayoi knew, however, that a day apart was exactly what this new couple needed. Just a little bit of space and time for them each to take the time o evaluate their relationship before jumping in head first to something as new as this. And besides this would be like killing two birds with one stone. Kagome needed some clothing and other necessities, and both lovebirds needed some time away.

...

In the car, Kagome was finally able to calm and cool herself to return her complexion back to a relatively normal color. It was embarrassing how much the demon could affect her. Wringing her hands together and trying to ignore the awkward silence, Kagome looked out the window as Izayoi drove off in the direction of Koto.

They pulled into the parking garage next to DiverCity Tokyo Plaza and got out of the clean silver car. Not knowing where they were headed Kagome opted to just trail after Izayoi, who had started happily chatting about how much Kagome would just love the girls that would be helping Kagome pick out her new wardrobe today.

Kagome wasn't sure whether she was ready for more people or not, but either way, she was heading into a mob of people despite what she thought she was ready for. They walked into a small coffee shop inside the mall where Izayoi pulled out her phone and sent out a few messages before asking Kagome if she wanted anything while they were there.

Kagome opted for a hot chocolate and sat at the corner table with Izayoi while they waited for Izayoi's friends to show up.

Eventually, though, two young women showed up and after Izayoi motioned for them to come over they ordered and came to sit with them.

"Girls this is Kagome." Izayoi introduced "She is the one I told you about. Kagome these are Sango and Ayame." She pointed to each young woman respectively as she introduced them.

The girls smiled in turn, then Ayame smirked. "So how has our dear Sesshomaru been behaving?"

Kagome sighed exasperatedly. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? Sesshomaru is a complete gentleman. How else would he behave?"

Sango smirked. "Well, he is still a demon Kagome san. Despite his desire to make you feel safe, his instincts must be screaming at him to complete the mating. How long has it been since you two met?"

Kagome thought back. Two weeks in the hospital and one at his apartment. "3 weeks... Give or take a few days."

Ayame looked shocked. "Wow, I knew Sesshomaru had better self-control than your average youkai, even for a high ranking taiyoukai like him. waiting more than 3 weeks is some serious restraint."

Kagome blushed "How long do demons usually wait before mating? "

"3-4 days..." Ayame deadpanned. "For us, the need to procreate trumps the need for personal affection. Emotional bonds can be forged later."

"You're a demon Ayame?"

Ayame grinned. "Wolf Demon. My mate Koga is the Prince and alpha of the Tokyo pack."

Kagome looked awed. "So you're like a princess?"

"You could say that."

Kagome looked at Izayoi. "So how long did Toga wait with you?"

Izayoi smiled "He waited a whole year. That man has nerves of steel."

Ayame smirked again and nudged Izayoi in the ribs playfully. "Guess Lord fluffy takes after his father more than he likes to admit ey?"

Izayoi laughed when Kagome almost spewed her hot cocoa all over the other three women. "F-f-f-fluffy?"

Sango rolled her eyes. "Ayame wouldn't dare to call Sesshomaru sama that to his face."

Kagome's eyes were watering and she couldn't help the hysterical laughter that followed. "Why does that name fit him so well?"

"Right?" Ayame exclaimed.

"Alright ladies, we should really get moving, we have an entire wardrobe to fill" Sango nodded and threw away her cup.

As the girls all prepared to get moving Kagome smiled to herself. Lord Fluffy. It was a strangely fitting name for the Icy man. Kagome decided she would commandeer this particular nickname for herself. She was sure he wouldn't mind.

**AN. A little more context for our dear Kagome, as well as some fun banter. Sorry, it's so short this time. I'll try to manage my time a little better and get a longer chapter next week.**

**Thanks for all the comments. I love hearing from you guys! I'll be back later. **

**Cassie :)**


	10. Rebuilding

After Kagome and the girls left the coffee shop they mostly just wandered around the mall for several minutes before Ayame caught sight of a clothing outlet that she liked. Grinning like a mad woman she zipped off in the direction of the entry, leaving the other three girls to wade through the veritable flood of human bodies that filled the walkways of the mall.

When they finally managed to break free of the mob of people and stumble into the outlet, they found Ayame standing there impatiently tapping her foot. "You guys are so slow."

Sango glared at her indignantly, "Humans!" Sango exclaimed as she gestures to herself and the other two woman standing and panting from the effort of getting there unscathed.

Ayame had the good sense to look at least a little sheepish. "Right. Sorry, I forgot."

Izayoi chuckled. "Just because I mated a demon and acquired his lifespan, doesn't mean I acquired his speed. Or any of his other wonderful demonic abilities."

Ayame again apologized, and they all moved on to roaming the little outlet. As they made their way through, combing every rack and shelf they slowly built up a mountain of clothes. Most of them were for Kagome to try on, but the girls picked out things that they liked as well. When they had finally made their way through the whole store, they went into the changing rooms and staked out two changing rooms. Izayoi insisted on being in the changing room with Kagome, while Sango and Ayame shared a room, and slowly, Kagome modeled every article of clothing for them, and slowly, they narrowed her mountain down to about 20 articles of clothing collectively, containing a few shirts, a few pairs of shorts, jeans, and even a couple skirts.

Kagome felt immensely awkward modeling for her little audience, especially since Ayame insisted she catwalk all the way down the hall and all the way back, including poses, in every single outfit. After the first few outfits though, Kagome began to enjoy it, despite herself. Her smile grew genuine, she added a little pep in her "catwalk", she even made a few jokes with the girls.

When they had fully narrowed their selection down to some clothing the girls insisted on, and some that Kagome insisted on, they made their way to the register. Kagome was completely prepared to carry a few of her bags, however, Izayoi told the cashier to have the clothing sent directly to Sesshomaru's apartment building, and handed the guy a card with the address on it. This was a novelty to Kagome, she left the outlet stunned that Izayoi could just have it sent straight home. She was grateful for not having to carry the bags, but she still couldn't quite believe it. It would seem Kagome would be getting used to having money as well as being a demon's Mate.

The women repeated this routine with every store they went into; hunt, try on, eliminate, check out. By the time Kagome thought she had everything she could need Ayame grabbed her by the shoulders and steered her towards a lingerie shop.

"Oh no. can we not? Please? come on have mercy!" Kagome begged.

"You do need underwear Kags," Sango remarked with a chuckle.

Kagome gave one of the mannequins an incredulous look. "That," she said indicating a red mannequin garbed in a lacy top without so much as an underwire and what looked like a lacy garter belt. "Is not underwear, that is a glorified piece of leftover lace with some leather."

Ayame just laughed. "You don't have to get that one... yet..."

Izayoi chose this moment to step in, "We're just going to pick you out some panties and a couple bras. As comfortable as the one you're wearing may be, you need variety." she explained as though Kagome were a 3-year-old child.

Without any other words from any of them, they once again began their skilled search, Kagome reluctantly railing behind. They did have a pint, but seriously, why couldn't they just get a couple packs of those fruit of the loom panties at Walmart?

When Kagome was forced to do her little fashion show, this time around, Izayoi had to practically shove Kagome out of the changing stall. Up until then, the clothes she had been modeling had at least covered her midriff and thighs. Standing there in the lacy bra and thin panties set, she felt way too exposed. It had been several weeks since she had last cut herself, and the only noticeable scars left were from her attempt, and would probably be there for the rest of her life, but even though she knew they wouldn't be able to see the evidence on her abdomen or inner thighs, she knew there was no way to hide the long raged pink lines running up both of her forearms.

"C'mon Kags, pose! you know the drill by now, its only been 2 hours..." Ayame encouraged.

Kagome struck a half-hearted pose, and shrink back when she heard the girls collective gasp. Izayoi, of course, had already seen them, but for Sango and Ayame, the marks were a shock. Izayoi ushered a now teary Kagome back into the changing stall, and invited the other two to follow, so as to avoid any prying eyes.

Sango reached out to Kagome and pulled her into a warm hug. "What happened sweety?"

Kagome just sniffled.

"Can I tell them?" Izayoi requested gently.

After a moment of hesitation, Kagome nodded her head which was currently burrowed into Sango's chest.

After the explanation, Ayame and Sango were silent. Sango continued rhythmically stroking Kagome's hair. She had only just met this girl today, but already the shy, caring, sweet young woman felt like a little sister to Sango and the fact that this girl had been pushed to the point of trying to end her life made Sango want to track down and slowly, painfully, murder whoever had made Kagome feel so helpless.

Ayame, on the other hand, was shocked for a different reason. Don't get me wrong, she had also fallen in love with the young human in the short time she had known her, and Ayame had a distinct feeling that there was a spice and a fire in the girl somewhere. However, Ayame, being a demoness herself, couldn't fathom what it must have been like for Sesshomaru, finally finding his mate, and finding her on the verge of death, at her own hands. She couldn't live without her mate Koga, and all she could visualize at the moment was how it would feel to find her mate trying to end his life. Ayame couldn't shake the depressing feeling, and Izayoi had to practically shake her out of her funk.

When the new information had settled, and Kagome had calmed down, Ayame insisted that the fitting continue. "You don't have to go outside, but you will try on ALL of these," Ayame said, in a no-nonsense tone, indicating the pile of lingerie on the bench in their little family changing room.

Kagome let out a shaky laugh. "Yes ma'am"

"That's the spirit," encouraged Sango.

The girls made their way through that pile and moved on. By the end of their time together, Kagome had two new best friends, and a fully stocked wardrobe consisting of everyday wear, house wear, Underwear, PJs, Formal clothing, Fancy clothing, two or three swimsuits with covers, shoes for all occasions, and a shimmery poison green and snow white cocktail dress that Ayame was particularly proud of finding. They had stopped by a salon to get Kagome pampered, and her hair trimmed, at which they also bought her the appropriate hair care products. They had also stopped by a grocery store to pick up the necessary feminine sanitary products, but I won't go into detail there...

Kagome was dropped off at the apartment she now shared with Sesshomaru still riding the high that spending time with other females, and being pampered and paid attention to, had brought on.

Sesshomaru met her in the lobby and bid farewell to his stepmother before walking his still beaming mate up to their apartment. Looking his little mate up and down, he decided that letting her go without him had been a good choice. She had needed the opportunity to get up on her own without using him as a crutch and he was proud of her for making it through the day without incident.

"You had fun today I see."

"Yeah..." Kagome sighed, "The girls were great, and I did manage to enjoy the process, even if I think I would have been fine with just half of what they bought. No woman needs three different swimsuits, it's ridiculous..."

Sesshomaru arched a brow at her. Having lived surrounded by the rich and powerful of both their races for so many years, most of the women he knew owned twice what his mother had sent to their apartment today. He supposed the difference did make sense considering she had grown up where having so many clothes were a luxury, but she almost seemed indignant at the waste of money on such frivolous things. Sesshomaru opted not to reply to her comment, however. She was his mate now, and he would spoil her whether she liked it or not.

"...And the underwear they made me get! Some of those shouldn't even count as underwear..." Kagome stopped mid-rant realizing who she was talking to, and blushed profusely. She had been so excited that she let her filter go and now she was ranting about underwear to her poor mate who was already restraining himself as it is. "Sorry, I'll shut up now."

Sesshomaru let out a deep chuckle. "I don't mind. This one is glad that you enjoyed your day." In truth, his Beast was straining against the confines of his cage just to touch the young woman before him, but until she was ready, he couldn't risk losing control.

When they entered the apartment, Kagome walked to the cabinet and grabbed a cup for water. Suddenly she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and immediately felt herself relax into them. Sesshomaru buried his nose in her hair and pulled her close.

"I missed you today." He mumbled.

Kagome's heart fluttered and she smiled closing her eyes and allowing herself to enjoy his presence. "Me too."

There was a low thrum deep in Sesshomaru's chest, almost like a cat purring.

Kagome giggled. "I thought you were supposed to be a dog demon... whats with that purring?" she reached a hand up and ran her fingers through his long silky locks of hair.

The purr turned into a playful growl. "This Sesshomaru does not purr," he stated indignantly.

"mmhmm..." she hummed dismissively before untangling herself and filling the cup. Once said cup had been filled Kagome turned to face her mate and took a sip of the water. "I've made a decision."

He arched a brow in response.

"I'm going to stay."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened. "Stay?"

"With you. I'm going to stay here, with you and Rin. I want to be your Mate. I'm not ready to...um..." Kagome blushed and coughed slightly. "Consummate... yet, but I want to stay... I mean If you still want me too..." Sesshomaru cut her off by grabbing her around the waist and kissing her, effectively shutting her up and answering her declaration. He was elated. She wanted to stay. She wanted to stay, and by extension was choosing to live, she wouldn't leave.

Kagome, on the other hand, was so shocked by his sudden response that she dropped the cup she had been drinking out of, spilling water all over both of them and all over the Kitchen floor. To further her surprise, she found herself responding to his kiss, resting her hands on his biceps and tilting her head upwards to meet him fully.

The kiss was over as suddenly as it had started, and left Kagome flushed and gasping for air. For a moment, neither of them said anything, just tried to catch their breath.

"Wow," Kagome sighed, "That is quite a response... Did not expect that..."

Sesshomaru just smirked then said, "Sorry, should have asked first, was that okay...?"

Kagome gave him a dreamy smile, "You may kiss me like that anytime..."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Exactly at that moment, Rin walked into the Kitchen to find the two standing there still in each other's arms. "Ew! Were you guys kissing? Gross! I'm going to bed!"

Kagome couldn't help herself, she laughed, hard. "Kids just say the darndest things don't they?"

Sesshomaru huffed.

"Let's go get her tucked in then." Kagome extracted herself from his embrace and headed for Rin's room with a slightly offended dog demon trailing on her heals. It was a good day.

AN. Hey! I know this is late, I am so sorry! I just started working a new job and it's a night shift, the change in schedule is totally screwing with my body. No worries though, I'll try and get back on schedule this week. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We finally got a kiss. Yay!

Thanks again to all of my wonderful readers who have stuck with the story so far, I love reading your comments and thoughts. Please stay tuned for the next chapter which will be up hopefully by Monday this time.

~Cassiopeia


	11. Just a Day at the Office

A couple of weeks after the shopping trip, Kagome decided it was high time to get over her aversion to going "home". It wasn't that she really needed her clothes now, although there were a few comfortable favorites that she wouldn't mind getting back, but there were a few personal Items that she could no longer go without. She couldn't just keep using Sesshomaru's computer, and there were a few other little things that seemed like more of a big deal to her now that she actually had a visible future. And now that Sesshomaru knew mostly what went on in that house, there was really no reason to keep avoiding it.

After bringing the subject up with Sesshomaru, they agreed that they could go that weekend. Rin would go spend the day with Kaede (the babysitter), and they could take Sesshomaru's Volvo xc60 so that they would only need to take one trip.

In the meantime, Sesshomaru could no longer avoid going into the office. There was only so much he could do from home, and he had reached the limit. He had offered to call his mother so that Kagome wouldn't be home alone, but Kagome declined, saying that she would like to see where he worked. Sesshomaru agreed with the stipulation that she stay in the office and out of the way so that everyone could go undistracted.

So, that is how Kagome found herself dressed in a very professional looking white blouse and black pencil skirt that Izayoi had picked out for her along with a royal blue knit cardigan and leather ballet flats that Friday morning in the passenger side of Sesshomaru's silver Honda, pulling into the parking garage under the tall and imposing Taisho Tower which was the headquarters for Taisho inc. and all of its subsidiaries. Kagome knew he was the CEO but it really hadn't connected in her brain until she was in the glass elevator riding up the side of the tower getting slightly nauseous as she watched the ground outside slowly disappear beneath her. And that is how Sesshomaru learned that his mate was afraid of heights. He almost laughed when she reached out and grasped his sleeve for dear life as they passed the 25th floor. Unfortunately for poor Kagome, Sesshomaru's office was on the 180th floor, and by the time they reached said floor Kagome was clinging on to Sesshomaru's arm with her eyes screwed firmly shut.

Of course, as soon as the now claustrophobically small glass box had stopped moving Kagome straightened up and composed herself, purposely not looking out the glass windows, and calmly exited the glass death box as the stainless steel doors opened with a happy little "Ding!". Sesshomaru watched this whole scene bemusedly, thinking that one of these days he would have to take her flying...

Once inside Sesshomaru's impressive office, Kagome set to looking around as Sesshomaru disposed of his briefcase on the desk and set to sifting through all the paperwork and calls that had slowly accumulated in his absence.

Kagome was careful in her exploring not to touch anything that looked too important, but she was fascinated with some of the little decorations and keepsakes on display. You would never be able to tell from just passing him on the street, but deep down Sesshomaru definitely had a sentimental side. Covering the north wall of his office was a floor to ceiling black walnut bookshelf. On almost every other shelf was either a picture of Rin or a framed scribbly drawing signed in a shaky little girls hand and addressed to "Lord Sesshomaru". It was adorable how many little girls keepsakes adorned this demon's workspace. The books on the shelves were an assortment of college textbooks in various subjects, business books, a shiny encyclopedia set, and an entire shelf devoted to children's books, probably for days that Rin may have to spend at the office with him. On the south wall of the office, there was an assortment of strategically placed diplomae and certificates, as well as a what Kagome now knew as the Taisho family seal, a large cherry red Sakura blossom, painted directly onto the wall. The door to his office was on the east side and the west wall was one big thick glass window from which Kagome could see most of western Tokyo and beyond. From the safety of Sesshomaru's office, Kagome was less afraid of falling to her death than she was in the death trap they called an elevator but was still wary of standing too close to the glass. One can never be too careful.

About an hour before noon Sesshomaru was called into a meeting and left Kagome to her own devices with instructions to the secretary outside to get Kagome anything she asks for. Approximately 30 minutes into this meeting, Kagome found herself with nothing left to do. She had browsed through all the interesting looking textbooks, mostly the psychology and art history ones, she had read all of the children's books, and had run out of things to doodle on the scrap paper pile near the paper shredder. Deciding she needed something more productive to do, Kagome peaked her head out of the office door and tried to get the secretary's attention.

"Psst! Hey!"

The secretary swiveled around in her chair to face the young woman behind her. She was pretty. she had silky brown hair cropped into a stylish pixie cut which made her sweet round face look even younger than she was, which was a little funny seeing as how she was a demon also, so she could easily be anywhere between 19 and 10,000 years old. If you take into account that demons age fare slower than humans then it was more like 500-10,000 years old. Sitting in her sweetly shaped face, set just the perfect amount of space apart were two almond-shaped strawberry red eyes with long thick eyelashes. Her nose was just the tiniest bit crooked which was more endearing than off-putting. Her thin pink lips pulled into a welcoming smile to show off perfectly white teeth, though her central incisors were slightly larger than what might be normal and Kagome made the assumption that she was probably a mouse or rabbit demon. "How can I help you, Miss Higurashi?" asked the petite secretary.

"I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help around here. It's ridiculously boring in here alone."

The demoness smiled widely. "If you wanted to put this pile of papers through the shredder, I would not complain. We're all playing catchup now that Lord Sesshomaru is back in."

Kagome practically bounded out of the office and sat herself down next to the paper shredder and one by one began feeding paper into it, watching maybe a little too much childish glee as she watched the papers get sucked in and torn apart. To be fair, paper shredding is pretty entertaining.

Kagome took one small task after another which was how Sesshomaru came back to find her alphabetizing the large filing cabinet beside Miss Saito's desk. Arching a brow at his secretary, he waited for an explenation.

"Miss Higurashi asked if there was anything she could do to help. She is very organized and might make someone a wonderful assistant."

Sesshomaru inclined his head in acknowledgment. Turning to his intended he asked, "Shall we go get lunch?"

Standing up and stretching Kagome turned to him with a smile and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's go."

Sesshomaru turned to his secretary, "We should be back within the hour. Go ahead and clock out for lunch, we'll see you later."

They walked down the street to a small cafe and sat down at a table back in the corner.

"How was the meeting?" Kagome asked, attempting to start up a conversation.

"Monotonous."

"That bad huh?"

"I honestly do not see the point to half the meetings they make me attend, they almost never get anything done in there." He huffed.

Kagome laughed and shook her head as the waitress on duty came up to their table and took their orders. "Maybe they should have the meetings by themselves then just have you sign off on the results. As the CEO, you get the final say, so you would still have a say, and you could waste less time."

"If only it worked like that" Sesshomaru shook his head. "How was it you ended up assisting my secretary?"

Kagome flushed "I got bored" she admitted somewhat chagrined.

"Hmmm... she seemed to appreciate the help."

"Yeah, she was working pretty frantically. haha..."

After they finished eating, they headed back up to the office, where Kagome resumed her alphabetizing, and Sesshomaru got back to his own work.

On the way home that evening before picking Rin up from Kaede's. Sesshomaru spoke up.

"How would you like a part-time job...?"

Kagome glanced at him curiously. "Doing what?"

"Just what you did today. You could assist Miss Saito in her work and perhaps me as well. nothing very complicated."

Kagome smiled. "Sounds like fun! When do I start?"

"As soon as you want. No rush. It's not like we're looking for assistance, but Miss Saito seemed very satisfied with your work, and you could use the occupation."

"That's true. How about Monday?"

" That's fine."

"Awesome. We get to work together!"

Sesshomaru did have to admit that it would be good to keep her close for a while, but eventually, he was sure that she would want to find her own career path. On the plus side, they had lots of time to figure all that out.

**AN. Ok so I know it's been a while since I was on here and I deeply apologize. Life has been insane the past several months. Thank you all for the comments while I was gone, you guys kept me going, even though I wasn't updating.**

**As always, feel free to offer some constructive criticism. I always love to hear from you guys. I'll try and update again next week.**


	12. Home, Bittersweet Home (Fixed)

Saturday flew by and before Kagome knew it, it was Sunday morning, and time to face her past. She had hardly slept at all that night. After experiencing so much happiness in Sesshomaru's home with Rin, and finally having friends again, Kagome was nervous to be in that bleak house again. She didn't know how her mother or brother would react to seeing her after 5 weeks of no communication from her. It was certainly long enough time for them to report her missing, but Kagome was almost sure they wouldn't have bothered...

Forcing her eyes open, she turned to face the demon next to her. Sleeping in the same bed together was the norm for them now, and Kagome found that she was strangely comfortable with the idea now. Golden eyes opened to meet hers, frowning ever so slightly.

"You look worried." Sesshomaru remarked.

Kagome sighed. "It's been 5 weeks since I saw either of them. I left a week before I made my attempt. Before you found me. I'd just assumed I would never see them again..."

"It's not too late to change your mind. We can wait longer if you want to." Having said this, Sesshomaru reached a hand out to her's under the covers, and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

"No." Kagome shook her head, "No, I need to do this. I have to move forward one way or another. Either they're in my life or they aren't. And besides, I can't keep stealing your laptop."

"I could just buy you a new one."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you could, but I'm doing this. Sure, I'm nervous, but I'll just treat it like a band-aid. Pull it off fast and get it over with."

Sesshomaru assessed the young women in the sheets next to him. When he found her that first day, he had no idea what he was getting. All he'd known was that she had been hurting enough to try ending her life just to make it stop. Looking at her now, he could see the true Kagome coming up through the layers of pain and anguish that had defined her for so long. She was brave, strong, and completely beautiful. The fates had chosen well. At first, he hadn't been sure. Living as long as demons do, it doesn't always work out even for a demon, but Kagome was definitely strong enough.

Smiling slightly, Sesshomaru leaned in and claimed Kagome's lips in an appreciative kiss, and she responded, pulling herself closer to him, and running her hands through his obnoxiously perfect hair. Seriously, how was his hair so straight and tangle free after sleeping with it loose like that?

Pulling apart, Kagome gave him a curious look. "What was that for?"

"For being you."

Kagome laughed and crawled out of the bed. "Thank you. I needed that." Smiling at him she turned and padded into her own room to shower and get ready.

...

After taking Rin to Kaede's house for the day, Kagome and Sesshomaru made the trek to Kagome's house. Interestingly enough, after explaining to Sesshomaru that her family lived in the old shrine by the Goshinboku, he knew exactly where he was going. Apparently, his family had some history in that area, which Sesshomaru explained on the drive there.

Incidentally, the creepy old well that was sealed up used to be used by the village nearby to dispose of lesser demons that had been slain by the local priestess. The name "Bone Eater" suddenly made so much more sense to her, especially now that she knew the truth about demons.

When they arrived, Sesshomaru parked on the curb and they sat in the car for several minutes as Kagome assessed the shrine steps with some doubt. Then with a considerable sigh, she opened her door and marched up to the foot of the steps.

Following on her tail, Sesshomaru also assessed the steps and, finally coming to a decision, swept Kagome up in his arms and began climbing the steps with her in his arms.

Kagome gaped at him before throwing her arms around his shoulders so as to regain some of her balance. "Whats this for?"

"You are still recovering from that blood loss. It would be best for you not to overexert yourself at the moment. I decided these were too many steps to attempt at this current moment, and I would prefer you didn't pass out halfway up." He explained eloquently.

Rolling her eyes, Kagome leaned her head against his shoulder and settled in for the ride. She personally thought he was being a little overprotective, but she certainly wouldn't turn down the physical closeness at this current moment.

"Careful. Your doctor's showing again." Kagome mumbled into his chest.

Sesshomaru chuckled. "You shouldn't laugh. I was a very competent heart surgeon."

Lifting her head, Kagome fixed him with a skeptical stare. "For how long?"

"About 20 years. Any longer than that and the humans would have started to notice that I wasn't aging."

Realising once again that this man was more than 3,000 years her senior, Kagome just shrugged, accepting the fact that he had to do something with all that time, and went back to burying her face in his shoulder.

They did eventually reach the top of those ridiculous stairs, and Sesshomaru reluctantly set Kagome back on her own feet. Stealing her self for whatever she might encounter inside, and pulling as much strength from Sesshomaru's presence as she could, Kagome approached the two-story building that she had called home for so much of her life.

After opening the unlocked door and announcing herself to be home and waiting for a reply, was met mostly with silence. Buyo, her chubby calico cat came trotting up to her and rubbed himself against her ankles, but other than that, the only sounds coming from the interior of the house were the sounds of the TV running in the living room, and the clacking of a video game remote upstairs. Nothing had changed. They probably hadn't even noticed her absence.

Shoulders sagging, half in relief, half in disappointment, Kagome made her way up to her bedroom, pulled out her 2 good duffel bags, and her laptop bag, and her trusty old yellow backpack, and she got to pack her things. She had hoped that they might at least be a little surprised to see her back. Maybe she might have even hoped that her mother would scold her for disappearing for so long. Frowning, she dove into the task at hand and attacked her room with a vicious concentration on getting the hell out of this house. She packed her laptop, she packed the only photo album she had with her dad in it, she packed a few sets of clothing that she liked, she packed the few sentimental items she had left and then she moved on to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, she packed her favorite shampoo and conditioner, she packed her old hairbrush, and the old towel she had had since she was a kid. She then did a walkthrough of the house, and then settled in the kitchen after dropping her bags by the front door. There she found Sesshomaru sitting at the counter, and her whole countenance deflated.

"Sorry. I almost forgot you were here. Can I get you anything?"

Sesshomaru shook his head.

"I'd offer to show you around, but there isn't much to see really."

It was then that her mother decided to enter the kitchen to refill her wine glass. She looked awfull. Her cheeks were sunken and pale, and her eyes rimmed in red from a lack of sleep and an excess of drunk crying. Her body had grown even thinner since Kagome had last seen her, and her skin held a sickly almost yellowish complexion from a lack of sunlight and proper nutrition.

Upon noticing Kagome's presence, she eyed her daughter up and down with an air of detached criticism. After also taking stock of her daughter's tall handsome companion, she set her glass down on the counter and crossed her frail bony arms, almost with a certain...superiority?

"So the little lady finally decides to grace us with her righteous presence, does she?" Her words stung. "Who's this? You got a sugar daddy now?"

Kagome was stunned by her mother's harsh words. She had been cranky and antisocial since her father left, but never outright mean.

"Bet he's the one who paid for those pretty brand name clothes, isn't he. Is that where you were these last few weeks? Did he buy you your own little apartment? Somewhere you can raise his precious little bastards? You're just like her! That whore who stole my husband! I bet you're a little slut for him! Worthless trash!"

Halfway through her rant, Kagome had to pull Sesshomaru back from nearly striking her mother. Shaking her head at him, she took the abuse and waited for her to finish. When she was done, Kagome answered her calmly, fighting the tears that burned at her throat.

"I think you've been reading too many of those novels, mom. We both know daddy didn't leave us for another woman. Nobody knows why he left. And no momma, Sesshomaru is not my sugar daddy. He's my fiance. I'm not stealing him from anyone, he's mine in the first place." With that, she reached out and grabbed his hand in hers, which in all honesty was the most forward she had been with him since she told him she agreed to become his Mate, but it seemed to fit the moment. "I'm just getting my things, and then you won't have to see me here again."

Her mother deflated. The anger in her eyes dulling back down to the lifeless holes that Kagome was used to seeing. Plastering on a fake smile she stiffly held her hand out to Sesshomaru. "In that case, it's nice to meet you."

Frowning slightly Sesshomaru briefly shook Mrs. Higurashi's hand.

"SOTA! Get your ass down here and say goodbye to your sister!" With that Mrs. Higurashi refilled her glass and was about to head back to her seat in the living room before she turned back to Sesshomaru. "Not that I really care, but do try not to go off and abandon Kagome after you two are married." And with that, she turned and disappeared back into the living room.

A few minutes later a surly looking teenage boy, with shaggy black hair and dark circles under his eyes from no sleep and too much screen time, came stomping down the stairs and shuffled into the kitchen. Looking his big sister up and down he raised one skeptical eyebrow at Sesshomaru then said unenthusiastically, "Bye Kagome. See you round whoever you are." Then trecked back up the stairs.

Heaving yet another sigh and letting her shoulders droop, she walked back to the door. "I have everything I need. Let's go."

Frowning after Kagome's brother, Sesshomaru nodded and followed Kagome, picking up the one bag she left for him and then relieving her of hers. When she glared disapprovingly at him he just shrugged and said, "No overexerting yourself. I believe I already said that once today."

Kagome rolled her eyes.

After taking one last walk around the grounds, and saying goodbye to her old hideouts, Kagome led the way down the steps back to his car. It felt good to finally close the door on that chapter of her life.

AN. Here is the next chapter, guys. We finally got a real glimpse of home life for Kagome before Sesshomaru. Also what was up with her mom? I wonder what she was thinking of?

As always, stay tuned for the next chapter. Please feel free to leave your comments, reviews, and Constructive criticism. I'm always looking for ways to improve. See you all later! :)


	13. Old Friends

On their way down the shrine steps, heading back to Sesshomaru's car, Kagome caught sight of the very last two people on the planet she had ever wanted to see today. At the foot of the steps, was a girl about Kagome's age with her hand linked with a boy's arm. Said boy looked to be around 19, and he stood at least 6 feet tall. The young woman looked so much like Kagome that a stranger might have mistaken them for twins. The most notable difference between the two, however, was the young woman's countenance. Kagome's presence was a soft and soothing one. She was one of those rare people who's aura lit up a gloomy room and comforted those in her vicinity. And her face and the way she held herself humbly reflected these traits. The young woman at the bottom of the steps had a much different effect on her environment. Her aura was sharp, fiery, and challenging. She carried herself with an air of confidence and walked with an almost arrogant swagger. And her face, though almost identical, was all angles and sharp edges.

Kagome froze where she stood. Kikyou. Her joints locked. Her hands turned clammy. Her heart almost stopped. Kagome was panicking. Luckily for her, she had not come alone today.

Sesshomaru glared down the steps at Inuyasha and his conniving girlfriend. They were just walking down the street, but Sesshomaru couldn't help the growl that escaped his chest at the effect that just seeing them had on his mate. At hearing the growl, the young man at the foot of the shrine steps stopped and turned to look up at the pair that was descending said stairs.

Reeling his beast back in, Sesshomaru looked over at Kagome. He could feel the waves of panic rolling off of her. And he. Was. Furious.

Tamping down the sudden violent urges rising, once again, inside of him, Sesshomaru moved the bags that he had been carrying all into one hand and turned to take Kagome's hand in his. She needed support right now, not his brother's blood, as appealing as the idea was at that moment. Gently, he squeezed her hand in an attempt at pulling her out of her panicked daze. It worked. Her head snapped up to look at him, tears welling up and lips trembling. Forgetting that they were in a public place, Sesshomaru wrapped Kagome up in his arms and leaped to the foot of the stairs, bags and all.

Kagome was so out of it, that she didn't even notice that she and Sesshomaru had flown. She didn't notice when Sesshomaru lifted her into the van, or when he buckled her into her seat, but she came back to reality as soon as she saw Inuyasha and Kikyou walking back towards them. Kagome practically tries to crawl inside of herself, slouching low in the seat in a vain attempt at trying not to be noticed by the couple.

Ignoring his brother's approach, Sesshomaru dropped Kagome's things into the back seat and was about to just get into the driver's seat, intent on getting his mate home, when Inuyasha blatantly grabbed his forearm.

Sesshomaru's body went rigid. "I am trying my hardest not to kill you, little brother." Sesshomaru snarled through gritted teeth, fighting back his beast, which cried out for Inuyasha's blood. "I agreed to leave this matter to our parents..." Sesshomaru said, recalling the talk he'd had with his mother after Kagome's confession about her past. "But if you continue to try my restraint, I wash my hands of what my beast may do to you." Sesshomaru turned to face his half-brother, his eyes already a bone-chilling shade of red.

Inuyasha let go and backed off. "What's your problem, asshole?" Inuyasha barked. "Let our folks deal with what? Why the hell are you so pissed off?" Inuyasha had gotten defensive.

Apparently, Izayoi had not confronted her offspring about Sesshomaru's new mate just yet, but that was to be expected. The insolent little whelp was going through a rebellious phase and hardly ever came home. Sesshomaru trusted that Izayoi would properly punish her son in her own time, but there was no avoiding this introduction. Inuyasha had known that Sesshomaru had found his Mate, but he wasn't aware of the details, or circumstances. Well, now he would learn, it was unavoidable at this point.

Sesshomaru took a deep, bracing breath and for the third time that morning, he ruthlessly shoved his beast deep down into the recesses of his own subconscious. Forcing his muscles to relax, and squaring his shoulders, Sesshomaru shook off his younger brother and went to get Kagome back out of the car.

Taking Kagome's hand and lacing their fingers together, Sesshomaru turned himself and his intended to formally introduce her to his brother.

"Brother," Sesshomaru said, repressing the urge to just poison him with his miasma and be done with it, "Meet Kagome. This is my intended Mate, the chosen of my beast."

It took Inuyasha a moment to register who the woman on Sesshomaru's arm was, but when he did, the whole situation finally made a whole lot more sense. Inuyasha had thought it weird that his elder brother was in his girlfriend's neighborhood. And he hadn't had any idea why in the hell he would be at a shrine. Much less the Higurashi shrine. But now it all made sense. His beast had chosen Kagome Higurashi as his Mate. They must have been visiting her family and picking up some of her stuff. And if Kagome had told him anything about her school life, Inuyasha also suddenly understood why his brother suddenly wanted to kill him again after they had been getting on so well recently.

Inuyasha felt Kikyou go rigid on his arm and looked over to see her glaring at the young woman who was practically cowering behind Sesshomaru. Rolling his eyes at his girlfriend, who's overly jealous behavior, while endearing in high school, had been getting on his nerves recently, he spoke up saying "Yeah, we've met. We went to school together, though I'm guessing you know that already based on your behavior towards me."

Sesshomaru snarled, almost losing his composure again.

"Seriously, take a chill pill bro. It's not like I ever hit her."

"Take a chill pill? Do you know how I found her? I was almost too late, and I might have lost her thank's to you two and that horrendous school you all went too." Sesshomaru seethed. "Was it fun? Watching Kagome be stripped of the only affection she had left? Because Kami knows she never got any at home. You" he turned on Kikyou "You knew her home life was painful, yet you turned your friendship against her anyway. I'm disgusted with the both of you!" Taking another deep breath, Sesshomaru concluded with "I've made my formal introduction. I have no further obligation here." With that, he helped Kagome back into the car before Kikyou had a chance to stick her oar in.

As Sesshomaru was walking around to his side of the car he paused and turned back to Inuyasha once more. "The only reason I'm not killing you is that I believe whatever punishment Izayoi cooks up will be far more satisfying. She has met Kagome by the way. She adores her. And yes, I told her everything that Kagome told me. Do enjoy the rest of your date dear brother." And with a satisfied smirk at having had the last word, Sesshomaru climbed into his seat and pulled away, taking Kagome back home.

Inuyasha felt a chill run down his spine and decided he ought to steer clear of his mother for a bit longer.

In the car, Sesshomaru felt pretty satisfied with himself. He had seen the fear creep into his brother's eyes at the mention of a pissed off Izayoi, and felt that justice had partially been served on his part.

Looking over to the passenger side of the car, he noticed Kagome slumping in her seat, arms wrapped tightly around her midsection, and head bowed. Sesshomaru sobered, realizing that he may have said too much back there. He had been so angry that he hadn't thought of the repercussions for Kagome. She probably didn't want her former bullies to know they had driven her to such lengths. That probably felt like giving them a victory they didn't deserve.

"I apologize. I should not have been so free with such information."

Kagome shook her head. "No, it's okay. They would have found out eventually anyway, right? It doesn't bother me much." Her voice was quiet. Subdued.

Sesshomaru's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "What's on your mind then?"

Kagome heaved a shaky sigh. "I just didn't expect to see them today of all days I guess. Like out of the frying pan and into the fire, sort of."

Sesshomaru nodded. He could understand that. "Too many memories?"

"Yeah..."

They drove the rest of the way home in silence, and when they got home, Kagome carried up two of her bags, then stalked back to her bedroom and dropped them next to the door. She crawled into her bed, burrowed under the covers, and slept until 7 that evening.

Worried after their silent drive home, Sesshomaru called Izayoi to tell her about their encounter that day, and then went back to check on his mate, only to find her fast asleep, her brow wrinkled in a frown, and two wet trails down her cheeks. Whatever Izayoi had in store for Inuyasha, better be really good.

**AN Hey guys. here is the new installment. For those of you who didn't think Kagome's mother was mean enough to warrant attempted suicide in the last chapter, I would like to remind you that the main reason Kagome had felt so depressed was actually Kikyou her former best friend turning everyone against her. Yes her mother had a part in it, but mostly by virtue of being emotionally absent, and her outburst last chapter was, as Kagome noted, out of character for her. Deep down Mrs. H still loves her daughter, but she never fully dealt with her husband leaving her and therefore was never there for Kagome when she needed her. If any of you were confused about that, then there you go. :)**

**Comments and reviews are always welcome. Feel free to leave some constructive criticism, and tune in next chapter to learn a little more about why Kagome is so terrified of Kikyou now.**

**Peace out!**


	14. Karma

As it turns out, Izayoi did indeed have the perfect punishment for both her wayward son and his cruel girlfriend. As fate would have it, Izayoi and Kikyou's mother both went to the same Zumba class on Wednesdays, and they often set up next to each other. This Particular Wednesday after class, in the locker room of the gym they both attended, Izayoi approached the mother of her son's girlfriend.

"Mrs. Hijiri! How is your daughter?"

Kaiya Hijiri was a short thin willowy woman with long deep brown hair and fair skin. Despite her stature, the woman had a strong confident personality and a strict countenance. You should know that when Kagome and Kikyou were friends they spent many many hours playing in the forest behind the Hijiri's house, so Kaiya was well acquainted with Kagome. In fact, she had adored the little girl whose own mother had emotionally abandoned her and thought it a great shame when Kikyou had come home in the middle of her 8th-grade year to announce that Kagome Higurashi Thought herself to good for everyone else in school and no longer wanted to be friends with the lowly commoners like herself. Kaiya had thought it an over exaggeration at first, there was no way that the sweet, mild tempered Kagome could act so rude to her best friend, and she had even taken it upon herself to visit the Higurashi shrine to straighten things out between the girls, but no one ever answered the door when she went over. Kaiya had been angry at the Higurashi's for quite some time, but eventually passed it off as teenager drama and had decided to move on.

"She is very well. Thank you for asking Mrs. Taisho. How are your sons?" Something else you should probably know. Kikyou's family kept up the tradition of formally training their daughter's in the ways of the Mikos of old and were a large part of keeping the demon population hidden from the rest of society, turning their age-old rivalry with those of demonic descent into a mutually beneficial almost symbiotic relationship with them. Therefore Kaiya knew that Izayoi was Mated to the Great Demon General Inu no Taisho and that her son and stepson were also great demons in their own right despite Inuyasha's human blood.

Izayoi smiled a honey sweet smile and replied in her most sugar-coated tone, cautiously stalking her prey, metaphorically. "They are well. Though Inuyasha has not been home in several weeks. Sesshomaru is very well though. His Beast has chosen a Mate. Finally..."

Kaiya looked pleasantly surprised. "It's about time! How old is he now?"

"Old enough. We all feared it may never happen. He's been passed the typical age of finding a mate for a couple centuries now. Never the less, we're all quite happy for him."

Kaiya smiled warmly. "Who's the lucky girl?"

At this, Izayoi strategically let her smile slip. "Her name is Kagome, poor girl. She's quite young to be Mating my son, but it's a very good thing his Beast chose her, for her sake."

Kaiya looked puzzled now. "Why do you say that?"

"I really shouldn't say... It's not my story to tell..." Izayoi resisted the smile that threatened her lips. 'Gotcha!'

"Could I meet her?"

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea... she's so fragile right now..."

"How about I have dinner at my house and you and your family, including her, can come along."

Izayoi let herself smile now. "What a wonderful idea! But, I insist we have the dinner at my house. Kagome might be more comfortable that way."

"That's a good point. What time should I come over?"

"How does Friday night at 6 sound?"

"Perfect! I'll bring my special sweet rolls for dessert." Said Kaiya, Already planning out what tome she would need to put them in the oven to be warm when she arrived at the Taisho home.

After giving Mrs. Hijiri the address, she waved her goodbye and said. "Then I'll see you there." And then she waltzed out of her gym to her car and drove home triumphantly, already scheming ways she could pull Kaiya onto her side, to help punish their children, unaware that Kaiya already knew Kagome.

**AN. I know. I know. It's short this week. I just wanted to give you guys a little sneak peek at what's in store for Inuyasha and Kikyou. I wonder what will happen now that Kikyou's mom will be in on it. Will this serve to help or hinder Kagome's recovery? Find out more in the next chapter, which will be up soon... hopefully...**

**As always, feel free to comment or review or whatever. Constructive criticism welcome. Someone pointed out to me recently that there was a discrepancy in Sesshomaru's age between the first and third chapter. That should be fixed by now.**


	15. Relapse

Kagome had been almost completely silent since the incident at her house, and Sesshomaru was getting more and more worried. She had shown no interest in going back to the office for the part-time job that they had discussed. She hardly ate anything, and she slept in her own bed. The only time she smiled or spoke was when Rin came home from school, and Sesshomaru could tell that she was putting on a mask for the little girl's benefit.

For the first few days, Sesshomaru had thought that maybe she just needed some space to recover from the encounter with her former bullies. But the longer he waited the worse she got until finally, the night before his mother had asked them to dinner at her house, Sesshomaru decided that he had waited long enough. Obviously, Kagome needed some help to work through this, and Sesshomaru got the feeling that there was indeed more to the story than she had originally told him.

Sesshomaru went back to her room and stood in the doorway watching his mate as she just lay there on her bed staring aimlessly at the ceiling. "Rin is spending the night at Kaede's tonight."

Kagome said nothing.

"You need to talk about this, Kagome. It's eating you alive. I can see it."

Kagome turned her head to look at him, her eyes empty, almost dead looking.

Sesshomaru ventured further into the room, the heavy scents of depression and despair almost suffocating him. He sat down on the edge of her bed and covered one of her hands with his own. "Talk to me Kagome. I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

Kagome heaved a long sigh and turned her face away from him. "What is there to talk about. I'm a coward. A nothing."

This caught the Youkai off guard. Is that what she really thought? "Why do think that?"

"One look. That was all it took and I dissolved into the same old whimpering mess from Highschool." Sesshomaru could hear the slight quiver in her voice.

"I did wonder about your reaction to them. You had told me that they never touched you, so I'm not sure I understand the fear. I'm sure there is more to the story that you didn't tell me though. You are many things Kagome Higurashi, but a coward is not one of them. If you were truly a coward, then my beast would not have chosen you for a Mate."

Kagome slowly turned back to look at him again. Her deep brown eyes glistened with tears, and her lips trembled. "How can you be so sure all the time? Why do you believe in me so strongly?" She almost shouted at him, her voice choked on the restrained tears.

Sesshomaru squeezes the hand that he held as he answered, "Because, in the weeks since I found you, I have had the pleasure of watching over you and speaking with you, and watching you interact with my daughter. You are so much stronger and more beautiful than you know, and someday you will see what I do, but for now, trust that I would never lie to you."

The dam broke, and the floods came. Kagome let the tears come and she crawled into his lap, curling into a ball and making herself as small as she could in his arms. She relished his touch, and for a split second, the thought that she should have just come to him in the first place crossed her mind, before she resumed burrowing into his chest. Years of neglect, and loneliness, and all she ever really wanted was this. Someone to believe in her, support her, hold her...

She cried for several more minutes before she was able to calm down and all that was left were hiccups and shuddering breaths.

"Do you want to tell me why seeing my brother and his Miko frightened you so much?"

Kagome took a deep breath. "Inuyasha didn't scare me... Kikyou... she..."

"She what?"

"I told you the truth when I said that nobody 'touched' me, but Kikyou did occasionally... well she and some other girls from the archery club occasionally ganged up on me in the girl's locker room and... they used the bows to hit me, so technically they didn't touch me, but still..."

Sesshomaru was shocked once again. "Why? I thought Kikyou was only jealous of you."

"She was... I guess... They only beat me up when Kikyou and Inuyasha had a fight, and Kikyou would blame the fight on me claiming that I had done something to make them fight, and all the girls who followed her joined in. I guess just shooting arrows at targets wasn't enough of an anger management, she needed a 'punching bag' so to speak."

"So that's why you froze up."

"Yeah..." Then Kagome laughed bitterly. "I think I started hurting myself after the first time they stopped actually. It really isn't funny, so I don't know why I laughed... Maybe I've run out of tears so my body just opted to laugh instead..." She trailed off.

Those words pulled on Sesshomaru's heart. To have gone through so much that the body can no longer discern between a laugh and a cry... Sesshomaru thought back to when he found her in the bathtub. How she had had other older scars all over her skin. Evidence of some form of either self-harm or abuse. Turns out it was both. Sesshomaru felt the urge to kill rise in him all over again but quelled it and focused back on his mate.

"Why do you say that?"

"About the laughing?"

"About hurting yourself."

"Oh..." Kagome thought for a few moments "It had been months since anybody had touched me, I had gotten so used to not feeling any external sensations, that when she first beat me, the pain reminded me that I was alive. I think that's what it was at first, just hurting myself to feel something. Slowly the cuts got deeper, I started getting more reckless with the blades. It kind of got out of control. But it had started to feel good, in some twisted painful way."

Sesshomaru was silent for several long minutes before he pulled Kagome closer to him and just held her. "Is there anything else you would like to share right now?"

Kagome shook her head almost violently.

"Okay. We can just sit like this for a while." And they did. They sat quietly for many more minutes before Sesshomaru spoke up again. "Would you like to come back to my bed little one?"

Kagome nodded her head sleepily.

Standing up, Sesshomaru walked them both into his bedroom and laid her down before ridding himself of his own clothing and pulling on a pair of flannel pajama pants. He turned back around to find a wide-eyed flustered Kagome ducking her head under the comforter. Sesshomaru smirked. He stalked back to his bed like the predator he was and crawled onto the mattress, pulling the blanket away from Kagome's flushed pink face. "How is it that even when you have just been crying you are still so tempting, little mate?" He growled low in her ear before kissing her neck.

To Kagome's complete and utter mortification... she moaned. That's right people, she moaned.

Sesshomaru chuckled at her reaction before ducking under the covers with her and pulling her back against his chest. Kagome squeaked at his sudden movements but stilled as she felt his broad chest and strong arms envelope her. If she were a cat, she would have been purring as she fell asleep beside him. Luckily for her, she wasn't though, because after that moan earlier, Sesshomaru was fighting an invisible battle in his mind against a raging Beast who had absolutely no sense of timing.

**AN. So... tell me what y'all thought. This chapter was a little dark but we got some fluff at the end. :)**

**Comments and reviews are always appreciated, and as always, feel free to leave any constructive criticism. I love hearing from you guys! You always leave such great reviews!**

**Stay tuned for more chapters, I will be back with another one soon.**

**~Cassie**


	16. Plans and Reminiscing

The Taisho's lived in a large mansion on the outskirts of Tokyo, in what had once been the capital, and central hub of the once illustrious Western lands belonging to the great Inu No Taisho. Said mansion was the central building, of a collection of buildings which had originally been the great Inu fortress. It was the ancestral home of the Taisho family, and though it had of course been renovated and remodeled many times over the years to keep up with human advances, it still held many of the most integral details of its original architecture. It stood on the hill like something out of a history book, beautiful, and dangerous, and regal.

The grounds on which this magnificent castle stood was also owned by the Taisho family and stretched outwards from the structure for many miles, which were protected by certain wards and spells to deter any unwanted visitors. Their lands served as a safe haven for some of those demons who either refused or could not blend in with human society. Those who preferred the old ways, and those whose form was still unable to be disguised by the spells which bound other demons' appearances. The lands were covered in vast forests with spatterings of meadows filled with wildflowers, various brooks and streams as well as a decent sized river, one or two ponds and a small lake. Near the castle, there was an entire grove of Sakura Trees which almost seemed to be perpetually in bloom. Sakura trees also decorated the gardens and the road which lead up to this majestic castle.

All in all, the Taisho home was a beautiful haven for the spirit, and for those spiritual beings, for that is what youkai were, creatures of spirit. That is what connects youkai, Miko, and men of holy power. They were all deeply intuned with things of the spirit. Of magic, and Youki, and Reiki.

Sitting within this haven, in the kitchen which had been converted for the use of one cook rather than the many which had once been needed to feed the hordes of noble youkai who lived here, were the Lady Izayoi and Kaiya. Kaiya had come several hours early for their dinner so that she could have the chance to help Izayoi with the preparations which would be necessary.

"So were you able to convince Kikyo to come tonight?" Asked Izayoi.

"No, apparently Inuyasha and she have a previous engagement. They won't be joining us this evening."

"Such a shame..." Izayoi hid her smirk. Once Kaiya had the chance to properly meet Kagome and hear the story from her, the last pieces would fall into place. Izayoi only hoped that Kaiya would not take the side of her daughter against poor Kagome. Though, knowing Kaiya's no-nonsense worldview, she had high hopes for such an outcome.

"Yes. They'll just have to meet another time."

At that moment the oven beeped signaling that the roast Izayoi had put in that morning had finished. After she pulled it out to cool, Izayoi set about putting out the plates, silverware, and other meal accouterments. This would indeed prove to be an eventful night if nothing else.

...

Inuyasha and Kikyo sat in Inuyasha's car, watching the sun, as it set over Japan.

"We need to talk about what happened on Saturday," Inuyasha remarked. He had given his girlfriend the space she needed, but he needed answers. "Kagome is my brother's Mate. I know you didn't really like her in high school an' all but didn't you two use to be best friends or somethin'"

Kikyo remained silent, brooding. She honestly didn't know how to feel about seeing Kagome again. Especially after the letter, she had gotten from her a few months ago. Summer had been almost over and Kikyo had received a handwritten note in the mail which read

"My dearest Kikyo,

I know we haven't been friends since middle school, but you are the last person who ever truly cared about me, so it seemed appropriate that my last words be addressed to you. You, who were my best friend. My light in the darkness. My confidant. The last person I thought I could trust. You were the one who made my life worth living after my father left us. You were the only one to whom I divulged my deepest darkest secrets. You knew my fears and my passions. My hopes and dreams. You were the only one whom I told that I had a crush on Inuyasha.

When did it all go so wrong? What did I do to make you hate me so much? My dearest friend, when did you decide that Inuyasha was worth risking our friendship for. I was prepared to back off. Inuyasha chose you. Why then did you turn our friends against me? Why did you tell my secrets and fears to everyone at school when you knew that it would wound me? Was this your goal? Did you want me gone? Then so be it. You will never be forced to look at me again. By the time you read this letter, I will be long gone from this world. You can have the school. You can have Inuyasha. You win. There is no place left for me in this life, so why should I linger?

Just do me this one favor, if you ever loved me as your friend. Treat Inuyasha well. He always had that distant and sad look in his eyes. That was what first drew me to him. Did you know that? That melancholic look which made me think that we may have something of a sad past in common with each other. Tell him to stay strong, remind him that he has a good heart. He always deserved better than me anyway. Don't forget me.

Kagome"

Kikyo glowered at the sliver of gold that still lingered over Mount Fuji. Kikyo had been cruel to Kagome in high school, and she knew it. But as much as she had been cruel to Kagome, that letter, Telling Kikyo that she was killing herself when in fact she never planned on doing anything of the sort, irked Kikyo beyond anything she thought she could still feel for the girl. She never in a million years imagined that Kagome could turn around and be a manipulative bitch right back.

Inuyasha watched as Kikyo's face changed with her thoughts. Even if she stayed quiet, he could tell she was upset by something. Frowning, Inuyasha turned his attention back to the sunset as well. Whatever it was, she would tell him eventually... right?

**AN Hmmm... Kagome left a note? I wonder how much of what Kikyo did was Inuyasha truly aware of...?**

**Until later my lovelies! Remember to leave a comment, tell me what you thought, or feel free to notify me of any mistakes or potential improvements. Constructive criticism is how we, writer's, improve. **

**This story is now officially up on Wattpad, Dokuga, and AO3 for any of you who may prefer reading in different forums. and for those of you who don't know, Dokuga is a fanfiction website dedicated to specifically the pairing of Kagome and Sesshomaru. Lots of good stuff on there.**

**~Cassie**


	17. Dreaded Reunion

The drive to the Taisho mansion was pleasant and long. Kagome supposed it would be quite a drive when Sesshomaru explained that they lived outside the limits of Tokyo, but when they left the penthouse at 3 to get to a dinner that was supposed to be at 7, she decided there was probably more to it than just being "outside the city limits". Kagome briefly considered the possibility of a castle in the clouds, but there had to be limits to how impossible life with Sesshomaru could get. The reality, however, was far more beautiful than any of the fantasies Kagome had imagined up for herself. After about 2 hours of driving towards Hatchozan, Sesshomaru made a sudden right turn straight off the road and over the edge of a cliff, and Kagome thought for a split second that they were going to plunge into the ravine at 75 miles an hour, but the impact that she expected never came. Kagome opened the eyes she hadn't realized that she'd closed and looked, in awe, at the scenery that now surrounded the car. Ancient trees towered over the winding road they now found themselves on. Flowering vines fell from the higher branches, and grass and wildflowers sprouted up around the roots, some varieties of which she had never seen in her lifetime. Beautiful cherry trees lined the road like great blooming soldiers guarding the path, and their petals fell like snow, swirling in a flurry around the car as it sped down the road.

Kagome turned to look at her mate, who wore the slightest hint of a smirk at her awe. "How?" was all she managed to say as her brain tried to process the impossible thing that had just happened.

"There are spells that protect the land surrounding my family home. Think of it almost as like a pocket dimension. Any human who made that turn, not knowing about this place, would have fallen into the ravine that you saw. Technically speaking, we haven't reached that cliff yet, it lies all the way on the other side of my father's estate. The spells make it so that this stretch of land only exists to those who know how to find it."

Kagome silently turned back to watching the petals fall as her mind wrapped itself around this new piece of the new world she found herself in.

After another 20 minutes of driving the trees cleared and Kagome was able to see the fortress at the top of the hill they were now driving up. "I thought you said your parents lived in the family mansion."

"I did"

She looked over at him incredulously. "That's not a mansion Sesshomaru, that is a castle."

Sesshomaru was impassive. "There used to be more. The Taisho fortress was both expansive and impregnable."

Kagome's eyes widened slightly and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Just how rich were you?"

Sesshomaru looked surprised then. "Did I really never tell you?"

"No..."

Sesshomaru pulled the car up in front of the entrance and parked, before turning to look at Kagome. "My Father is the great Inu No Taisho from your old myths. He is the Youkai Lord in the west, one of the most powerful demons in Japan. We are as close to royalty as demons have..."

Kagome took all that in silently, and then said: "So... I'm engaged to a prince..." Kagome slowly smiled.

Sesshomaru frowned a little. "I suppose..."

"Does that make me a princess?" Kagome was grinning now with amusement.

Now Sesshomaru smiled. "I suppose it does."

Rin piped up from the back seat "Am I a princess?"

Kagome laughed. "Of course you are!"

Kagome stepped out of the car as Sesshomaru got Rin out of her car seat, and then they all made their way up the steps to the front doors. Once inside Kagome was enveloped in a big bear hug by Izayoi, and then a gentle warm hug from Toga after he greeted his eldest son. Rin collected her hugs and then disappeared down one of the brightly lit hallways.

The Entrance Hall was a large room with a ridiculously high ceiling. The floor was made of white granite tiles with a large rug in the center of the room which was covered in the Taisho family crest. A luxurious crystal chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, and the walls were painted a gentle blue-green color. The walls were adorned with a gilded mirror, a long tapestry depicting a large white dog flying over what looked like an army, and beautifully painted portrait of the Taisho family as it was now, with Toga, Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha standing behind Izayoi who sat in an elegantly carved wooden chair and Rin sitting in her lap.

Kagome surveyed the room, and her eyes fell on Kaiya Hijiri. Kagome nearly fainted. As it was, her legs gave out under her and Sesshomaru, who, luckily, was standing right next to her, caught her before she hit the ground. Her eyes watered, and she wanted to scream. Couldn't she catch a break for 1 week? Was that too much to ask?

Sesshomaru looked to where his mate's eyes rested on the middle-aged human woman standing in the doorway that led to the dining room. "Who are you? And why does my mate react so, to your presence?" Sesshomaru recognized her only as one of the Miko who replenished the energies in the magical barrier around his parents home every year.

"That," Interjected Izayoi, before Kaiya had a chance to respond, "Is Hijiri Kaiya. She is Kikyo's mother."

Sesshomaru looked at Izayoi like she had gone insane.

"Did I forget to tell you that she would be here? My bad." Izayoi looked completely unrepentant.

Kaiya looked as white as a sheet. "Kagome... Higurashi?" her eyes darted between Sesshomaru and Kagome.

Now Izayoi looked surprised. "You know her?"

Kaiya nodded. "She and my Kikyo were best friends when they were little. She spent much of her time over at our house after her father left..."

Now Izayoi frowned, no, she glared at Kaiya now. "And it didn't bother you when your daughter started to bully her?"

Kaiya tore her eyes away from Kagome to look at Izayoi, completely shocked. "I was told that Kagome became friends with the cool kids in school and thought she was too good for Kikyo."

Kagome looked up at Kaiya. "Is that what she told you?"

Kaiya nodded.

"Well, it looks like we will have a lot to talk about over dinner then, doesn't it? Come, the food is getting cold..." Said Izayoi.

Kaiya silently turned and walked back to the dining room followed by Izayoi and finally Toga. Kagome still sat on the floor, trying not to hyperventilate, while Sesshomaru tried to help her calm down. After several minutes, Kagome was able to breathe normally again, and Sesshomaru helped her to her feet and led her to the dining room.

"I don't know what to do Sesshomaru." Kagome almost whispered.

"Just tell her the truth." Sesshomaru had a sneaking suspicion that he now knew why Izayoi had invited Kaiya. He hoped she would be able to listen with an open mind to the possibility that her daughter was not the victim here.

**AN. So... That happened. What do you guys think? Feel free to leave any comments, constructive criticism, thoughts. I love to hear from you all! I'll be back soon and we will see how this dreaded dinner went...**


	18. Family Dinner From Hell

Kagome felt faint as she sat down to dinner, and she could feel Kaiya's expectant stare on her, waiting for answers to the questions that were obviously rolling through her head now. She couldn't manage to eat much more than a few bites, and she was so nervous, that she could barely look anyone, even Sesshomaru, in the eyes. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife, in fact, Kagome swore she could taste it, heavy and bitter on her tongue. It tasted like hurt, betrayal, and regret, and Kagome had thoroughly lost her appetite.

Sesshomaru noticed his mate drawing further and further into herself, and was glad that Rin was having dinner in the kitchen with one of his family's only servants, Jaken. Honestly, he was furious at his mother for not a least warning him of her plan. Having an honest talk with Kaiya would probably help, but springing this on her had shocked Kagome's system so bad, he wasn't sure she would be able to rally enough strength to explain anything. Especially considering her emotional state when she was just relating her story to him. In their own home. In an attempt to come to Kagome's rescue, he started the discourse by making an inquiry of Kaiya.

"So, Mrs. Hijiri, your daughter told you that Kagome abandoned her for the "popular" crowd in Jr. High? Is that correct?"

Kaiya diverted her attention from Kagome long enough to answer Sesshomaru in the affirmative.

"And you knew Kagome for some time before that."

"Yes. She was like a second daughter to me. She made the loss of my dear Kaede easier to bear."

"Did you not think this behavior extremely out of character for Kagome?"

Kaiya frowned. "Of course I did! I called her phone and she refused to pick up! I went to her home! Nobody answered the door. I tried for weeks to make contact, to get an explanation. I had to assume it was true. Even if it broke my heart."

Sesshomaru almost spoke up in his mate's defense, but Kagome's hand on his stopped him.

"I wanted to explain what happened..."

"Then why didn't you!?" Kaiya sounded angry.

"I... I couldn't tell you. I-"

"Couldn't tell me what? Huh!? That You abandoned my daughter? My Kikyo!"

"That Kikyo had turned on me!" It left her mouth so fast, Kagome hadn't even realized she had said it until it was too late. There was no turning back now.

"What...?"

"She told everyone in school about my father. She twisted my words. used my secrets against me. She made sure everyone in our class hated me. She made sure Inuyasha was disgusted by my crush on him, and then she made sure the rest of the school hated me. I couldn't tell you something like that. Who would you believe? Me? Or your own flesh and blood?"

Kaiya looked shell-shocked.

Kagome could have stopped there, but she found that once the words started coming, they didn't want to stop. She explained the avoidance in the halls, loss of physical contact, the teasing, she even blurted out all of the things Kikyo had put online about her on the hate site made just for her, which even Sesshomaru had not heard yet. She was on a roll, and she didn't stop until she came to the part of her story where she had tried to end it. By that point, she was so emotional that not another word would come out. The balloon of information had deflated, and she was drained.

The table was silent. The mood turned suddenly from tense to somber, Kagome turned to her mate for comfort and energy, and she ended up enveloped in his Moko-Moko with her face in the crook of his neck and his arm around her shoulders.

Sesshomaru stared Kaiya dead in the eyes. "I found her in an abandoned apartment building in the Akihabara district. There was so much blood. I didn't think I would be able to save her."

Kaiya looked at Izayoi. "You knew all this when you invited me to dinner didn't you."

Izayoi had the good sense to look at least a little ashamed. "in my own defense, I had no idea that you and Kagome knew each other before, and it really wasn't my story to tell you. Although in hindsight, I ought to have assumed you had met at least once, considering..."

"I had no Idea that Kikyo had been so spiteful. This seems out of character for her too..."

"Do you doubt my mate's honesty?" Sesshomaru fought to keep his cool. "She certainly has the scars to prove her story."

Kagome lightly slapped Sesshomaru's arm. "I wish you'd stop talking like I'm not in the room..."

Sesshomaru peered down at her apologetically. "I apologize, mate. I do not mean to be insensitive."

"It's okay. You spoke in my defense, and I understand your protectiveness. But, I can speak for myself." Kagome smiled playfully up at her Mate.

Toga beamed at the couple fondly before breaking the tender atmosphere. "Perhaps we should take dessert in the gardens. Izayoi's chrysanthemums are especially vibrant this year. And the fresh air ought to do us all a world of good, while we work this out."

Kagome's countenance immediately brightened. "Fresh air sounds wonderful!"

And with that, they stood from the table, and Kaiya offered to help Izayoi clear the dishes and bring dessert out to everyone.

In the kitchen, Kaiya Pulled Izayoi aside. "Thank you. I... I find it hard to believe, that my daughter could be the cause of so much pain... for anyone... but I am glad to find out that Kagome is not, in fact, the mean-spirited girl that Kikyo made her out to be."

Izayoi gave a weak smile. "I only hope that I have not irrevocably broken trust with her."

Kaiya put a reassuring hand on Izayoi's arm. "I am sure she will forgive you. The Kagome I knew could never hold a grudge for very long."

The two women hugged each other before gathering up the strawberry and green tea mochi from the freezer and taking it outside to the rest of the group.

Outside in the garden, Rin sat in the lawn making daisy chains and adorning poor Jaken in them, while Sesshomaru and Kagome shared a white woven love seat with floral cushions. Despite the disaster that was dinner, now that the biggest misunderstanding was out of the way, Kaiya and Kagome spent most of the time catching up on the good things that had been going on. Kagome couldn't help bragging about her new mate, at least a little bit, and Kaiya avoided all topics having to do with Kikyo. The atmosphere was awkward, but not altogether unpleasant. Kagome was glad to have her almost-second-mother back, even though she knew she would eventually have to actually face down Kikyo and Inuyasha.

Kagome took courage in the fact that, at least this time, she had some more people on her side to support her.

Kaiya wondered in the back of her mind, however, how she had missed something so huge about her own daughter. She refused to believe it was all over some boy. Even if that boy was Inuyasha Taisho.

**AN. I know, I know. I'm Late. I am awful at actually keeping up an update schedule. And I have had a rough month... first my car got totaled, then the only "new" car I was able to find that was within my non-existent budget needs a bunch of repairs, and then my phone died. Like, it actually died. The motherboard is fried. Ironically, that was the replacement phone for the one that couldn't hold a battery charge. Like at all. I ordered a new phone, but apparently, it got held on suspicion of fraud because the address I wanted it shipped to isn't my home address. I work as a live-in nanny so of course, I wanted the phone shipped to the house I work for. I'm here literally 99.99999% of the time... *Deep Breath* Please have patience with me as I work all of this out...**

**In other news, one of you guys pointed out to me that I accidentally said her dad "died" rather than left. That was my bad. Kagome's father left them. I have fixed the error if you want to go have a look. :)**


	19. A Little More Than a Kiss

Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of sexual situations. Please do not read if you are under 18, or if such content is offensive to you.

Further warning: I am crap when it comes to writing smut, so I apologize if this ruins the mood of the story.

It took a few days for Kagome to recover from the shock she experienced at the Taisho house, but she did recover. It felt good to have at least one misunderstanding solved. To know that she had that many more people to believe and support her, even if she felt bad having to be the one who revealed that ugly truth about Kikyo to her mother.

Kagome returned to her part-time job with Sesshomaru the following Monday, and life continued in a pleasant monotony. To be perfectly honest, Kagome loved how "boring" everyday life was. She loved working and keeping her mind busy, and she loved that Sesshomaru was almost never more than a few feet away from her. Some people might consider that to be suffocating behavior, but after years of neglect and abandonment, Kagome almost relished the stifling attention. She loved coming home to a bouncy, angelically mischievous little girl, who called her "Mother". Most of all, Kagome loved that every night she slept, nightmare free, in Sesshomaru's room, surrounded by Him. Protected. Loved.

The weeks passed, and Kagome started to feel more and more that she BELONGED. The roomy penthouse felt like HER'S. This life felt like HER'S. Curled up at the head of Sesshomaru's bed, after having tucked Rin into bed, waiting for Sesshomaru to come back out of his closet, she spoke up.

"Sessh." She called over to him, using the nickname that she knew he hated but feeling too lazy to say his full name.

He sighed in mild playful annoyance as he stepped out of his closet, wearing his fuzzy blue pajama pants and nothing else. "Yes?"

"How long have I been here?"

He arched one regal brow at her. "You haven't been keeping track?"

She scowled at him briefly. "I was a little preoccupied the first couple weeks, and I didn't bother keeping track. I guess I didn't expect this to last as long as it has."

Sesshomaru's face softened. "I found you on March 31st. It's June 8th today. You slept for several days, then spent two more weeks recovering before you came here. You've been here for about 7 weeks I believe. A little under 2 months. Why do you ask?"

"Only two months..." Kagoma fell silent a moment.

"Longer than you thought?"

"Actually it's been shorter than I thought." She looked up and met her Mate's eyes. "It feels like I've known you and Rin for years already."

"Is... that a good thing?"

A lazy smile graced her features. "Yeah. It is."

Sesshomaru climbed onto his side of the bed pulling Kagome under the sheets with him. Kagome giggled and nestled herself into him, then looked up into his eyes "It's a very good thing." Sesshomaru nuzzled his nose against her in a sweet little Eskimo kiss before reaching over and turning out the lights. "I feel comfortable here Sesshomaru. Like I belong. You know?"

Sesshomaru nodded. "That's because we're your family. You do belong here."

As Kagome's eyes adjusted to the lack of light in the room, her hands found Sesshomaru's face and she kissed his lips. Pulling away she replied "I'm so glad you found me so that I could have this life with you and Rin. I know there is still a long road in front of us, but as long as I have you with me, I know I can handle it. I know I'm not alone anymore. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Sesshomaru rolled so his body was hovering over hers, and he bent down so their noses were touching again. "You think I don't know what it feels like to be alone?" His tone suddenly turned sad. "I spent over 1,000 years waiting for you." he said "Wandering the earth. Hiding my true self from humans. Do you know how long it has been since I was last in my true Inu form? My father grew distant after my mother died. I wouldn't see him for hundreds of years at a time. It wasn't until he met Izayoi that he finally began to come back to himself. Only then did I finally see him again. No one is meant to be alone, neither human nor demon. I think I can more than understand the relief of finally having someone to spend my life with after all of these years."

Kagome's eyes grew soft and her heart ached for the years of loneliness this man had endured. No wonder he had looked so hurt when she first met him. Her hands reached back up to his cheeks, caressing the smooth skin there. "I'm sorry if I was insensitive."

Sesshomaru closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. "It's alright. You couldn't have known."

"But I should have asked," She said as she slid her hands further up to loop around his neck, keeping him there. "I've been so focused on myself. I didn't even think to ask about you."

Sesshomaru shook his head. "I don't blame you. What you went through is a lot for anybody to have to deal with. It would be selfish of me to begrudge your much-needed healing period." He nuzzled her forehead. "Now hush." he murmured with a slight smirk "You're spoiling the mood." then he dipped his head down to nuzzle the side of her neck, just under her ear.

Kagome sighed, then squeaked when he began kissing down her neck to her shoulder. "What mood?" She laughed a little. "You're the one who got all dark and angsty on me."

Sesshomaru lifted his head and kissed her deeply, nipping at her bottom lip and demanding her submission with his mouth. She responded eagerly, welcoming him into her mouth, and inviting his advance. When he finally pulled away, he replied; "This mood..." He whispered huskily before he went back to her mouth.

Kagome smiled into his kiss and chuckled a bit at her mate. "Well fine then." She mumbled. Closing her eyes, she surrendered to his strength. She was safe with this man. She slowly slid her hands up the back of his neck, and then proceded to run them through the silky softness of his hair. When he didn't object or stop her, she continued her exploration of him with her hands, as he moved and continued his exploration with his mouth. Her hands found his shoulders and ran down the muscles in his arms before they came back up and ran over the hard rippling planes of his chest and back. His body felt like strength and power. His mouth continued to explore her shoulder and down her collarbone, one of his hands deftly opening moving aside her button up nightshirt to grant him further access to his mate's body.

Kagome didn't even think when she opened her thighs to bring his body closer to her's, her skin flushed pink and heat spreading through her veins. All she knew was that she needed to feel more of him, and he was obviously more than willing to comply. His body lowered between her legs, his mouth finally finding one of her breasts, kissing the underside, and then her nipple and then moving to pay the same attention to the other. Kagome gasped, and her body arched up off of the bed, pushing her body flush against his own, bringing her now aching core to press against the hard muscles of his abdomen.

When his mouth traveled even farther down her body, kissing his way down her belly, Kagome let her head fall back against the pillows, her fingers threading themselves into his hair. "Please" She gasped, not even knowing what it was she was asking for. She arched her body again, rubbing herself against him, chasing a release that she didn't even know how to find in the first place.

His mouth came to the waistband of her cute little boyshorts underwear... and he stopped. He pressed his forehead against her lower belly, and he shut his eyes tight, forcing his beast, which was now roaring with sexual need, back down, and breathing hard.

Kagome propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at him. "Why'd you stop?" She asked breathlessly.

Sesshomaru continued to try and real in his breathing, and the drive and the instinct to mate, taking several more minutes before he answered. "If we go any further tonight, I'll mate and mark you."

Kagome gave a nervous laugh. "Is... Is that bad?"

"No." he looked back up at her with a gentle smile. "No, it's not, but this is neither the time nor place and Rin is just down the hall. I want... I need us to do this right." He said, crawling back up to hold her now that he was sure he had himself under control.

his words dumped a big 'ol bucket of ice water all over her mood. Kagome blushed, then frowned and lightly smacked his arm. "You may be right, but you started this mister!"

Sesshomaru smirked into her hair as they settled back into their normal spooning position to try and get some sleep.

"Your an ass. Good luck falling asleep." Kagome quipped, pushing herself back against his erection, just to prove her point, before deliberately closing her eyes and pretending to fall asleep.

Sesshomaru silently admitted to himself that he did, in fact, put himself in this position, and he would now have to deal with it. He desperately needed a cold shower, but he also really didn't want to get out of bed. "Are you mad?"

Kagome relaxed her tense muscles and heaved an exasperated sigh. "No. I'm not mad. Just frustrated."

"Sorry. I hadn't planned to take it quite so far."

Kagome smiled. "At least there's no doubts about us desiring one another."

Sesshomaru smirked once again. "That was never a concern for me, little mate. I wanted you before I even met you."

AN: I've never really actually written anything past a kiss into any story that I've published before. Please let me know if I should have just left it out or not. I apologize if it sucked. This chapter was pretty much just filler. I'll try and get more content on here soon, so please be patient with me.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story so far, I've really enjoyed writing it.

~Cassie


	20. Family Time

Kagome and Sesshomaru spent their weekend exclusively with Rin. The took her to the playground, the went for ice cream, and they did all the things a normal pair of parents might do with their little girl on a hot summer day.

Kagome reveled in her new sense of normality, and she relished the warmth and comfort of her new family. There was no denying that her relationship with Sesshomaru was starting to heat up, especially after Friday night. Kagome blushed and smiled just thinking about it.

Currently, the little family was taking a relaxing nature walk out on the Taisho property. They had left home early this Sunday morning, in order to be at the house in time for a late breakfast and some time in the woods. Izayoi had packed them a nice picknick lunch, and Rin had been bursting out of her seams to get to her favorite meadow. Izayoi had presented Kagome with a beautiful white kimono with the Taisho family crest adorning the sleaves. Sesshomaru had disappeared back into the house and had emerged soon after in his own traditional garb and armor the names for which she had no vocabulary for. He looked elegant, and dangerous, Especially with his disguise done away with. Sesshomaru had said he had a surprise for her. Unfortunately, the outfit wasn't it, and he refused to spoil it, no matter how much she begged him.

Little Rin was dressed in a short simple Kimono dyed with an orange and yellow pattern, and her medium length black hair flowing about her shoulders.

"What are the outfits for?" Kagome quired.

"When we are out in the sanctuary, we keep it at traditional as possible." Izayoi replied.

The walk was pleasant, and the shade was cool. They stumbled across several lesser demons who were also enjoying the warm summer day, some of whom were fantastic, beautiful creatures one could only dream of, and others were gnarled and scary looking, disturbing Kagome but delighting little Rin, who had obviously seen all of this before. There was one striking similarity across all of the Demons they came across, however. They all held a great respect for Sesshomaru. Even the ones who could not speak in a language Kagome could understand, they nodded and bowed each in their own way, and Kagome was once again in awe of her Mate. "They respect you a great deal," she remarked.

"They respect my Sire, and by extension, me. Father has done much for our kind. Those who cannot blend into human society, he offers sanctuary for, here. And he holds a great many other pieces of land similar to this across Japan, trusted into the hands of other Lords and friends. Some choose to govern and stay in their sanctuary, thinking themselves too old to adapt, and others chose to also run certain branches of the company which I now own. The Demon world owes much to my family for keeping them safe and helping them to integrate into your world. My Father dreams of a world peacefully shared between our kind, I used to think his ideals foolish."

"And now?"

"I hope that dream comes to fruition someday. For the sake of my own family."

Kagome smiled up at him. "Planning for children so soon Sesshomaru?"

He smirks and moves the hand that was holding her own to now wrap around her waist, pulling her closer to him, his Moko-Moko keeping her from pressing against the hard rigidity of his armor. "Of course."

Kagome blushes as they continue into a large open space, covered in wildflowers. Rin squealed in delight and ran careening out into the field. Kagome smiled and laughed at the little girl, and Sesshomaru set down the basket he had been carrying. Kagome had tried to convince him to let her carry it, but he refused, insisting on being "chivalrous".

After lunch, Sesshomaru directed Kagome and Rin to the edge of the forest.

"What are you doing?"

"I want to show you something." Sesshomaru replied with a secretive smile.

Kagome frowned in confusion, as Sesshomaru stalked back to the center of the field. Standing and facing Kagome, Sesshomaru let go of his control for the first time in over 100 years. The air whooshed around him, the air crackling with Demonic energy. He felt his body transform. Growing to over 10 times his original size. He towered over the ancient forest. He stretched, enjoying the freedom that this form afforded him. Feeling the breeze in his fur. Demons are, at their core, very primal creatures. Sesshomaru hadn't noticed how much he missed this feeling until just now. Working in that tiny little office day after day was stifling. THIS was his true form.

Remembering why he was in his true form, Sesshomaru lowered his mountainous body to the ground, laying his colossal head onto his front paws, and looking directly at his Mate.

Kagome was breathless from his transformation. The power in the air, suffocating to her human senses. Rin, of course, was completely unfazed, and ran right up to the ginormous dog, climbing up his paw, over his foreleg and curling up in the large pouf of fur on his shoulders, giggling girlishly the whole time. Kagome approached more cautiously.

He was beautiful to look at. Majestic even. All flowing white fur, curling tail, big floppy ears... The more Kagome looked, the more she NEEDED to touch. Before she knew it, she found herself walking towards him. His big red eyes followed her movements as she neared him and carefully raised a hand to rest on his big warm nose. The creature closed his eyes at her touch and she heard a surprisingly soft whine emerge from his expansive chest. Encouraged by this response Kagome continued running her hands up his snout befor burying her hands in the fur on his cheeks, examining the jagged purple marking there. Continuing she stroked over the fur on his chest and shoulder and found herself climbing up into his fur much like rin had done.

"So... this is your true form?"

Sesshomaru huffed in the affirmative.

"I don't suppose you can talk when you're like this can you?"

Sesshomaru opened one exasperated eye to stare at her as though to say 'what do you think?'

Kagome chuckled. "You're very soft." by now she had climbed up to straddle his neck, burying her hands in the fur she found there.

Suddenly he began to stand up, air rushing around his head, Whipping Kagome's loose hair into a frenzy. Turning his head, Sesshomaru nudged Rin from her hiding spot in his fur, giving her a boost up to Kagome's perch atop his shoulders. Rin climbed up to sit in front of Kagome and as Sesshomaru crouched to take off, Kagome frantically grabbed two large handfuls of fur, trying to brace herself for his takeoff.

Sesshomaru launched himself into the air and felt Kagome find purchase in the fur at his haunches. Soaring over the forest he flew up into the clouds, carefully avoiding flying so high that the air grew too thin for Kagome and Rin to breath, opening his mouth and tasting the fresh mountain air, he let loose a roaring howl of delight.

Meanwhile, Kagome once again found herself speechless. The view from Sesshomaru's back was gorgeous, and as she was taking it all in, she spotted another figure flying straight for them. As the figure grew closer Kagome was able to make out another ginormous dog, covered all in grey and white fur. The Inu barked back and forth at each other before racing each other around the sanctuary. Kagome laughed at her mates antics, still holding tight to the fur under her hands. They continued like this late into the afternoon when they all landed back on the front driveway of the Taisho mansion and the dogs transformed back into Sesshomaru and Toga. Kagome grinned as her mate came back over to her.

"That was fun!" Kagome said breathlessly as she reached for her mate's hand.

Sesshomaru smiled down at her. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I loved it!" She corrected him.

Just then Rin jumped up into Sesshomaru's arms. "You turned into a gigantic puppy dog!"

Everyone went dead silent, not knowing what to say to that. Izayoi was the first to laugh. After her, everybody else joined in, letting loose with the healing power of laughter.

It had been a good day, and they finished it with a nice, stress-free dinner with the Taisho's. Kagome helped Izayoi clean up, while Sesshomaru carried a now sleeping Rin back out to their car.

"I'm glad today went well for you two," Izayoi remarked, before hugging Kagome goodbye at the door. "You've had a lot going on in your lives, I'm glad you were able to relax today."

Kagome hugged Izayoi back, "Me too. Thank you guys so much." She smiled and walked down to the car where Sesshomaru was holding her door open. To be honest, she was relieved to see him back in his normal clothing. The robes and armor, while beautiful and otherworldly, were, admittedly, a bit intimidating, as if he himself wasn't intimidating enough. At least when he was wearing his usual button up and slacks, he looked relatively approachable.

The drive back home was peaceful, with Rin sleeping in the back seat, and Sesshomaru holding Kagome's hand with his free one as he drove.

"So... You're transformation... How does that work?"

Sesshomaru smirked. "Curious?"

"Obviously..."

"Only the strongest youkai can disguise ourselves in a humanoid form. It takes much power and focus, and most of us cannot manage it until we are at least a year old. I have been doing this so long that it is almost second nature to me."

"And your clothes?" She was curious how they were not destroyed when he transformed.

Sesshomaru laughed lightly. "Any other clothing would have been torn beyond recognition by my transformation. The clothing you saw was woven by an ancient spider demoness who specializes in Demonic fabrics. She made them from my own Youki, so they are unharmed by my transformation."

"Oh!"She nodded, sort of understanding. "And your Armor?"

"Made by an old family friend, to sustain most blows, and it is self-healing, so most damage, if any, is only temporary."

"Hmmm..." Kagome absorbed that information, her eyelids growing heavy from the movements of the car and the darkness outside.

"Sleep Mate. I will Wake you when we are home."

And she did.

**AN: So Kags finally got to see Sesshy's true form. That was really fun to write. Please let me know if you enjoyed it or not... HMMM... I wonder what Kikyo and Inuyasha are up to...**

**~Cassie**


	21. Three Little Words

The Monday following Kagome and Sesshomaru's little excursion to his family home was fairly uneventful. They slept in, had a lazy morning spent playing board games with rin, and ended up going to the office just after lunch. After Sesshomaru dropped Kagome off at his secretary's desk with a peck on the lips, before heading to another monotonous meeting, Miss Saito asked her to go through the basket of papers by her desk. She was to pull out any files older than 80 years old and have them sent down to the archives.

Kagome started cheerfully, and the mindless little task gave Kagome the space of mind to think about her time spent with Sesshomaru thus far. She blushed and smiled secretively to herself when she remembered all the intimate little moments they had shared. Sesshomaru was much warmer to her than he typically acted with other people, and in the short amount of time she had known him, he had become her rock. He both grounded her and kept her afloat. He had pulled her out of the darkest time of her life and gave her a reason to live. Well, two reasons, actually.

Rin was such a sweet little girl. She was so bouncy and full of little girl energy. It was obvious she had been longing for a mother for a while, but she loved Sesshomaru so much. She had this little bubble that affected everyone around her and brightened the mood of a room just by walking into it. She was so strong too. Despite what she had been through when she was little, she always had a bright smile and a kind word for everyone.

Kagome had to laugh though, at her demon's aptitude for finding and picking up strays. First Rin and now Kagome, both of whom were in need of much mending and TLC when he found them. He was so gentle in the way in which he'd done it too.

Kagome continued to work as she attempted to put a word to the feelings that had awakened in her over these last two months. She felt warm and safe in this life, yes, but that wasn't all there was to it. She had agreed to be his mate, and he had been nothing but supportive and patient with her. When the word "love" crossed her mind, she froze, stunned by the thought. Was it Love? They kissed. Often. And the way Sesshomaru had touched her the other night could by no means be considered platonic. But that didn't necessarily mean that they loved each other. Kagome considered the warm, fluttery, heart squeezing sensation she got whenever he looked at her. The tenderness she felt when she thought of him. The more she considered it, the more the idea started to settle from her mind into her heart. She loved him. She Loved him... She LOVED him!

A wide grin spread over Kagome's face, all work forgotten. Rising, she headed over to the stairwell, because she still hated the elevator, and she headed down the stairs to the floor on which Sesshomaru had said his meeting was. She didn't even think about the fact that she didn't know what room he was in, or that she could just as easily text him that she had something important to tell him. All she knew was that she NEEDED to tell him.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts, and the major milestone she had just now realized that she had reached in her relationship, that she didn't see the dark figure that she had passed about two flights up. She didn't hear the footsteps. Didn't sense the creeping black aura until she felt the prick on the back of her neck, but by then, it was far too late.

...

Kagome woke up to the feeling of icy water hitting her face. Gasping at the cold that was now soaking her clothing and seeping into her flesh, she frantically looked around the room to find that she was in what looked like a small basement with cold concrete walls and an earthy floor. When she heard the sound of metal against stone, her blood ran cold. Slowly, Kagome turned her head to look directly in front of her, coming face to face with the person she'd forgotten to be afraid of...

"Miss me, bitch?"

**AN... So that happened... Sorry-not-sorry for the cliffhanger. I am sorry it's so short though. I'll be back with more later. Feel free to like and comment. I always love hearing from you guys.**

**~Cassie**


	22. Shock

Kagome was met with cold red eyes. Eyes which promised pain and bloodshed. Those eyes were set in a pale angular face which was framed with inky black hair and held an expression of smug satisfaction. The man before her was dressed in a white dress shirt, unbuttoned several buttons at the top and untucked from the professional black slacks that he wore. His tall stature, broad shoulders, and proud posture made for a terrifying silhouette.

This man had stalked her for two years back in junior high before mysteriously disappearing. She knew his face well but had never learned his name, mostly because she had been too busy hiding from him.

"Who the hell are you?!"

He smirked. "Don't you recognize me Kagome?" He tilted his head, his face looked almost disappointed.

"That voice...?"

Kagome's brain was struggling to keep up. She knew that voice, but it didn't belong to that face.

As she struggled to understand the information her eyes and ears were communicating to her brain, the man began to transform before her eyes. This transformation was nothing like what Sesshomaru underwent when he dropped his human disguise. That was graceful, natural, almost beautiful. This was... wrong... crude. Watching the bones under his skin rearrange and his skin, eyes, and hair change color and shape, Kagome felt so sick she was sure she would puke. But when the transformation was complete, she was too shocked to feel anything but fear and confusion.

"Hojo" Kagome whispered. "But... How? Why?"

The man, now more of a teenaged boy, chuckled darkly. "Yes. How indeed." He sneered. "Kikyo, perhaps you would like to explain."

Forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the imposing presence of her former stalker, to see Kikyo stepping down the stairs in the corner of the room to stand beside the man. She looked as beautiful and terrible as she always had, flowing ebony hair, soft skin, and cherry blossom lips. She was dressed in traditional miko garb and wore a bow and arrow on her back. "You look awful Kags. Did the trip not agree with you?"

Kagome remained silent. Since when had these two ever done anything together?

"As to how your old stalker just turned into your dear Hojo, its simple, they're the same person." Kikyo continued. "You should be familiar with demons by now. You're engaged to one. NARAKU over here is a spider demon. Part of his power is to impersonate whoever he chooses. Unfortunately for the real Hojo, in order for Naraku to properly replace him, Hojo had to disappear. Naraku devoured him."

Kagome felt sick again. That poor boy.

"Why?" Kagome whimpered.

The two co-conspirators looked at each other, sharing a meaningful look before Kikyo spoke again, while Naraku regained his original shape. "You have part of my soul. I want it back."

"What?! I thought you just didn't want me to be with Inuyasha?"

Kikyo scoffed. "This was never about him. He was mine from the beginning, you had no chance. I just wanted you to think that was what it was about."

Naraku chuckled again. "You see my dear Kagome, you are a mistake."

"What?" Error has stopped working.

"Kikyo is the clone of an ancient priestess, brought into this world by a group of fanatic Shinto priests in the last ditch effort to bring back the holy powers of old. After she was fully awakened, we knew something had gone terribly wrong. She was missing her soul, of course, the only reason that could happen was if her reincarnation was already in this time. She was placed into the home of a young woman whose child had been stillborn until we could figure out how to solve this problem. Of course, we had to tamper with her memories. Had to account for her now having a 6-year-old daughter in her home, so we made her think that the stillborn babe was the younger sister to Kikyo, not their first child."

"They didn't anticipate that my next door neighbor would be the very reincarnation which had stolen my soul in the first place," Kikyo stated.

"Yes." Naraku continued. "As soon as you girls started to spend time together Kikyo's body began to call her soul into itself from you. We thought this was the answer and left it alone for several years, but we also did not anticipate that you would unconsciously fight back, therefore you still hold half of the soul which is rightfully hers."

Kagome frowned. None of this was making any sense. Does not compute... The harder she tried to follow, the more her circuits seemed to be frying.

"Perhaps we should give her time to absorb this information before we continue," Kikyo Suggested.

"Agreed. I believe you have a lunch date with Inuyasha do you not?"

Kikyo nodded, her expression changing to one of gentle caring. No matter how cruel she had been to Kagome, she did love Inuyasha. "I do."

"Why don't you go do that. I can keep an eye on the fluke here while you are gone." The look that crossed his face as he said those words sent chills up and down Kagome's spine.

AN I'm back! I'm gonna try and actually finish this story up her pretty soon. For now, here is the next chapter. I hope it's not too disappointing. I'll hopefully update again tomorrow, but I am exhausted right now. its been a long couple of weeks.

Speaking of which, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Mine was nice and small. just a few friends and family.

Let me know what you guys thought! I'm always open to suggestions and constructive criticisms. See you guys on the flip side.

Cassie


	23. Panic

The entirety of Taisho Tower was in chaos. The CEO's mate had gone missing, and nobody seemed to be able to find her. It was almost like she had vanished. There was no scent left behind, no trail to follow. nothing was out of order, and yet, somehow, somebody had taken her. Every inch of the tower had been searched, and after hours upon hours of frenzied searches, within and without the gargantuan building, they were forced to give up the search.

Sesshomaru paced around his office, after calling off the search. He was on edge, and everyone in the building could sense it. He had left his meeting as soon as he felt the tug on his mating bond, but the warning had been too little too late. Suddenly Kagome's presence had entirely disappeared. He could no longer sense her, and the Beast was wild with fury. Power cracked around his office, poison dripping from his claws! He knew in the back of his mind that losing his shit was not going to help find Kagome, but it was like he was 20 years old again, struggling and failing to reign in his youki. He had just enough presence of mind left to jump out his office window and fly to the mountains before the Beast gained control and he melted his place of business to the ground.

He transformed mid-air and climbed as high as his power would allow before he let loose with an earth-shattering howl. He landed just inside the southern borders of his father's lands and continued his frenzied rampage.

...

This was how Toga found his son. Savagely tearing at the earth and trees without regard for either. Toga knew instantly who was in control, and he also reverted to his true form. It didn't take much for Toga to subdue his son after that. He was still a great deal larger than Sesshomaru, and he had him on his back within minutes. Toga held his son down with his teeth at his neck and one massive paw on his chest, until Sesshomaru gained back control of himself and returned to his humanoid form.

When both Demons were back to normal and Toga saw the state of his son, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that all was not well. Sesshomaru's clothes were rumpled, his posture drooping in defeat. Toga could tell that he was still struggling to hold himself together.

"What happened?"

"She's gone." Sesshomaru's voice broke as he said those words, and they fell heavy in the pit of his stomach. Kagome was... gone...

The brokenness in his voice reminded Toga of the agony of losing his first Mate, and he felt his son's pain. The loss of a Mate has been known to drive demon's insane. For Sesshomaru's sake, he sincerely hoped that Kagome was not dead. "What do you mean gone?" He quired.

"She was there. I was in a meeting, and I could feel her presence, and then... I couldn't. She's gone. There is no scent, no sign that she was even there. Her captor left us nothing. Her trail just stops in the stairwell. We searched the whole building three times over, She's just... gone."

Toga felt a pang in his chest for poor Kagome, and he wished there was a way he could help his son, but he knew from experience that only time, or finding his mate again would cure this pain. "Try to think about this rationally, son. Who could have taken her?"

Sesshomaru's brows knit together. He had been so overtaken by panic that he hadn't taken the time to think of that. "The first person who comes to mind is Kikyo, but surely she doesn't have that kind of power. To completely erase both hers and Kagome's presence. She could do it with a barrier, but their scents would still remain after they left..."

Toga lay a reassuring hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder. "It's a start."

Sesshomaru straightened himself and squared his shoulders. His father was right. If... No. Kagome IS alive. There was no 'if'. Sesshomaru had to believe that if there would be any hope of getting her back. Wherever she is, sitting here and throwing a tantrum is not going to help her. determination growing within him, he closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. He reached and felt for even the smallest spark of the bond. When he found it, he grabbed onto it with all he had. She was alive. He tried to send something, anything, through the bond, but they had not yet completed their Mating. The bond was incomplete, and as far as Sesshomaru knew, Kagome was only human...

**AN: Aww :( poor Sessh. I'm sorry it's so short again but there is more coming soon. I promise! Let me know what you thought.**

**Cassie**


	24. Realizations

Naraku leered at Kagome as she hung from the ceiling by her wrists, gravity stretching her body out for him to see. Kagome wasn't entirely sure of her state of dress, but she was sure that she was sick and tired of having him watching her like that. She was cold, and the room was damp, and she was fed up. Why couldn't the universe have just let her have that nice little moment where she finally realized what she wanted? If there was a god out there, he/she had a fucked up sense of humor.

On the upside, the fact that Naraku had been silent thus far, gave Kagome a chance to run back through what she had learned and process it all. What she realized was that, basically, her life might have turned out just fine, had this asshole and his weird spiritual groupies not decided to screw with nature. If they had just let the universe balance itself back out like it always did, none of what screwed her over in high school would have happened. At least not the way it had. And Kagome. Was. Pissed.

Naraku hadn't done much more than stare at, and taunt, her in the last couple of hours since Kikyo had left, and Kagome was seriously getting bored. She had expected torture, or something equally horrible and mentally scarring, but no. He just stared at her like a slimy creep. This man, this creature, had terrified her when she was 13 and hadn't known any better, but looking at him now, as creepy and grotesque as he was, the fact that he had spent hundreds of years pining after the powers of some priestess who obviously didn't care for spiders back then either, kind of just made him... pathetic really. That was the best word for it. As much as she hated having him there, undressing her with his freaky red eyes, some part of her knew that she would be fine.

She had spent years being afraid of her best friend, and to find out that this aforementioned best friend was little more of a cheap copy of herself. Kagome almost laughed. Sure, Kikyo had ruined her life, but to some degree, Kikyo was only a puppet for the pathetic creepy demon in front of her, and somehow that made her feel much less terrified.

In the back of her mind, Kagome realized that this demon had an unimaginable amount of power and SHOULD be feared, but the part of her that was that ancient, powerful, Miko knew that she had defeated demons far more powerful than this. It was with this thought that Kagome realized that SHE had power too. Her mind hadn't registered that fact until just then, but, logically, if those old Shinto priests had cloned Kikyo in an attempt to bring back the Miko power of old, and Kagome was a reincarnation of that same priestess, then Kagome held the power they were trying to recreate. Or a sizeable part of it, at least.

_Holy shit!_ Kagome was suddenly reeling. If she could dig deep and find even a spark of that ancient power, maybe she had a chance of getting herself out of this. All she needed to do wa-

_'Kagome'_

Kagome closed her eyes and listened, stopping herself mid-thought. After a moment, Kagome wasn't sure she had heard correctly until-

_'Mate'_

She tried to hide her smile as she replied to him.

'I'm here.'

_'Thank Kami. Where are you?'_

'A basement. I think. I'm being held by Kikyo and some demon who calls himself Naraku. That's all I know. How are you doing this?'

_'The Mate bond. I wasn't sure it would be strong enough for this yet. Most Mates have the ability to know exactly where their mate is at all times, but that only comes after consummation of the bond.'_

'Wow... so much for privacy.'

_'Scoff all you like. That particular ability would be really nice right about now. Do you know how many Basements are in Tokyo?'_

'You're right. I'm sorry. That would be really nice right about now.' Kagome reached inside herself looking for the source of the bond. Finding that warm little spark, she grabbed hold and gave it a sharp tug. 'did you feel that?'

_'Yes. What did you do?'_

'I pulled on the bond. Is it enough for you to follow the direction to me?'

_'I don't know... Keep doing that.'_

Kagome reached deeper and pulled harder as long as she could. It took so much of her concentration that she didn't notice when Naraku had started talking again. Something about how helpless her situation was. She wasn't really listening though, and all she heard was snatched words, which out of context, really didn't have any bearing on her current situation.

_'It's working Kagome. My sense of you is getting stronger. Keep doing that.'_

Kagome did laugh then.

Naraku frowned at her, stopping mid-monologue. "What are you laughing at?"

Kagome grinned at him maniacally. She was almost hysterical with relief. Knowing you have power, and knowing how to use it are two very different beasts. Knowing you are mated to a man who not only has huge amounts of power, but also knows how to use it, and is moments away from finding you, however, is incredibly reassuring no matter which way you slice it.

That obviously unnerved the little creepy crawly, because he took an uncertain step back from her and eyed her warily. "What?" He demanded.

"You really didn't think this through very well, did you?" She asked condescendingly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you tried to make a clone of a woman with great power, not realizing that she had already been reincarnated. And now you're holding that reincarnation in your basement with chains."

"So?"

Kagome shook her head at him then. "Oh, nothing..." She was quiet for a moment before asking "Exactly how far from Taisho tower did you take me?"

Naraku smirked at her then. "Not that it matters, but the best hiding places are always right under the nose of the person your hiding from."

"You've never been Mated, have you?"

Naraku grimaced then. "I tend to avoid any romantic entanglements with my own... species..."

Kagome almost laughed again. "Why? Been burned before?"

"We are much more similar to our non-demonic counterparts than we like to admit..."

Kagome arched a brow at him. "How's that?"

"The females like to... eat the male's they... sleep... with..." He winced as he said it.

Kagome had to laugh then. The little spider just didn't want to get eaten. Poor guy. Too bad Kagome just really didn't give a fuck after what he'd done to her.

"Why do you ask?"

Kagome smirked again. "Because if you had, then you might have known better than hiding me so close to my Mate, who just so happens to be a Taiyoukai, and the heir to the West."

And then the ceiling of their little "holding cell" was suddenly being broken through by a ginormous white paw.

**AN Hey guys! Here is the next chapter. It's way overdue, I know. Sorry. Unfortunately, this isn't an automatic happy ending for Kags and Sesshomaru, Tune in for my next chapter where we get to see Sesshomaru and Naraku facing off. And maybe some awakening powers from our favorite Miko... hmmmm...**


	25. No More!

As soon as Naraku realized what had happened, his face contorted with rage, and he transformed into a huge black spider. The creature was dark and ugly, with eight long legs as thick as tree trunks, and too many glowing red eyes for Kagome to bother counting. He was only half Sesshomaru's size, but that did nothing to diminish his lethality. The great ugly creature grabbed onto Sesshomaru's paw with its mandibles and sunk in its fangs, which were dripping with poison. Sesshomaru's beast let loose a low snarl and shook him off, sending Naraku flying several yards. Kagome watched as the demons ascended into the sky, crashing into one another with the strength of hundreds of years of experience and pent up violence.

Meanwhile, a suffocating cloud of miasma had begun rising from the floor like tendrils of steam. The demonic substance was heavy and thick, and it choked Kagome, who had no chance of escaping her chains unless she could somehow harness the power she was supposed to have. The miasma was rank with a stench that stung Kagome's nostrils and throat and brought involuntary tears to her eyes, making it not only hard to breathe but almost impossible to see, as well.

Kagome fought the instinct to panic and instead closed her eyes, fighting to focus. She reached within herself, not really sure what she was searching for, but something told her that it would be similar to how she had harnessed her incomplete mating bond.

...

Sesshomaru was furious. Not only had this _spider_ taken his mate, but he had also chained her up in his bunker out in the middle of fucking nowhere, with nothing more than her panties and bra to cover her. Nobody, NOBODY, was to see his mate in such a state of undress, aside from him. This THING which wasn't even a full demon had far overstepped his boundaries.

Sesshomaru had almost wanted to laugh when the spider bit him. Sesshomaru's talent, as a demon, was acid, a useful little gift from his mother. As a result, he was immune poisons of almost any origin, this creature's venom included. Dispatching the creature ought to be no problem. At least he thought that until he bit the head off of the arachnid, and weird slimy tentacles emerged from the point of decapitation and pulled its head back where it belonged. It was then that Sesshomaru truly realized what he was dealing with.

The creature had felt off to him from the beginning, and now he knew why. Spiders were not daiyoukai, and therefore, were not supposed to have a humanoid form. Spiders were small demons that typically stuck to just possessing humans and hiding in plain sight. This spider had taken its possession to a whole new disturbing level. Whatever it had done, was so against nature you could smell it in its miasma.

_Miasma... _

_Shit! Kagome. She's Human, She can't breathe this stuff as I can. _Savagely tearing several body parts off of the spider in a bid to buy himself some time, he turned back towards the underground bunker and made to approach when an explosion of Reiki blew the bunker and the earth around it to smithereens. Freezing in his track he watched his Mate emerge from the destruction glowing a faint purple-pink, her eyes glowing and hair flying back on the breeze that her power created.

...

Kagome found the little ball of power just as Kikyo made her way down into the basement/bunker wearing a gas mask and a look in her eyes that bespoke madness and fury. She had an insane glint in her eye, and for some reason, she was wearing the traditional Miko outfit. Holding her hands out towards Kagome she screeched "Give me back my soul!"

Kagome's eyes widened. Obviously, something had happened during her little lunch date with Inuyasha. Whatever it was, it did not bode well for Kagome. _Crap._

Suddenly a pink glow emanated from Kikyo's hand, and Kagome felt something inside of her wrench, as though Kikyo were attempting to yank Kagome's entire being out of her. She could feel her_self_ beginning to drain from her, and even though she didn't know how, she desperately tried to pull what she knew was her soul back into her. She could feel it draining away, like sand or water slipping through her fingers. In one desperate attempt to regain control, she grabbed onto that little ball of light inside of her. Hard.

The tides turned. Immediately, Kagome felt her soul pouring back into her, filling her up in a way that she hadn't felt since she was a child. Power crackled at her fingertips, melting away the chains that bound her, setting fire to her surroundings. Suddenly everything was ablaze with a pinkish-purple flame. Everything except Kagome.

Kikyo screamed as she realized that she was losing. Her body weakening with the loss of the one thing that had been holding her together. As the last drops of power and energy left her, her body began to shrivel and decay. The noxious scent of rotting flesh adding to the heavy cloud of miasma that was slowly burning away in the wildfire of purity which was now radiating from Kagome's body.

Kagome felt like a water balloon that had been filled passed its recommended capacity. Now that the power was awakened, it was like a faucet had been turned all the way up and the handle broken off. She couldn't turn it off, nor could she slow it down, and the power had nowhere to go but out. She felt the explosion before it happened, and was shocked in the aftermath to find herself still intact. Letting instinct take over, she felt her body go weightless as she floated up into the sky, taking in the fresh pure mountain air. It was freeing to let go like this. Somehow her body knew what to do, so she let it.

Zeroing in on her target, a writhing black heap of flesh behind her Mate, Kagome raised her hands towards the abomination that had dared imprison her, a bow and arrow forming in her hands. She sent a brief warning to her Mate.

'Get out of the way.'

The great white beast that was her Sesshomaru, she smiled to herself at that thought, gave an almost imperceptible nod, before gracefully moving out of her way. Kagome took aim, and despite never having shot a bow and arrow before in her life, the bolt of purification energy found its target without error.

Naraku's death was almost anticlimactic. After everything that had happened over the last couple of days, Kagome had sort of expected more fireworks. Instead, when her purification light enveloped the creature, it writhed and twitched before eventually dissolving away into dust, leaving behind the corpse of a shriveled old human man, and the rank scent of hundreds of years worth of decay.

_It's over. No more being afraid of my own shadow. No more tiptoeing around volatile ex-friends. No more letting life just happen to me. _No More!

AN. Well, there you go. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Obviously, Kagome's still going to have to duke it out with her inner demons, but at least that threat is taken care of. I do apologize for taking so long in getting back to this. Hopefully, I won't take quite so long to finish out this story. I see a happy ending on the horizon for these two. Tune in the next chapter to see what happens now that Kagome's power has awakened. How is she going to learn to control something that Powerfull? Good thing her mate has some experience with unruly power. ;)


	26. Space

The burst of power after having been awakened took a lot out of Kagome. After having taken down Naraku, Kagome was so drained that she collapsed. Luckily Sesshomaru was quick enough in transforming back to the human form that he just managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Kagome worried for a moment that her purification light would singe him too, but apparently, her light didn't affect him. She supposed it probably had something to do with the fact that they were a Mated, or almost Mated, pair, but at the moment, she was far too tired to try and think all that through.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Forcing her eyes open to look up at Sesshomaru, Kagome could see the worry lines on his face, and the concern in his eyes. How did she get so lucky? "I'm fine. Just a little scraped up. To be honest, though, all I really want right now is a nice long nap." She closed her eyes again and nuzzled into his chest.

Sesshomaru nearly sagged with relief. "You're still glowing."

"Hmmm..."

"Can you turn it off?"

"No idea."

Sesshomaru huffed. "Go to sleep then. Your fine now, so we can talk about it when your well rested."

"Okay..." She replied, her words beginning to slure with sleep. "I love you."

Those words halted Sesshomaru in his tracks. Looking down at his little Mate, he asked: "What... did you just say?"

Opening her eyes again, she looked up at him, her gaze slightly glassy with tiredness, "I said; I love you. I was going to tell you the other day, at the tower before I got kidnapped. Figured I better do it now before something else happens."

Sesshomaru tightened his hold on her a little, not really sure how to respond. "I think... I think I love you too."

"You think?" He could hear the sarcasm in her voice, which was obviously trying to disguise the insecurity behind her question.

Sesshomaru sighed. "Yes. I've lived for hundreds of years Kagome, and most demons don't even know the meaning of love. I've never felt like this with anyone. Except for maybe with Rin, but even that is slightly different from this."

"Oh." Kagome smiled again. "I think I can live with that."

They both fell silent, and Sesshomaru took to the skies, deciding that it would probably be prudent for them to stay with his parent's until Kagome learned to get her new found power under control.

...

Sesshomaru took a leave of absence from the tower to help Kagome learn how to harness this new power of her's. He also had Rin moved in with his parents for the time being, and had packed a few bags with what he supposed they would all be needing during their little vacation.

Toga had offered up a little house nestled deep in the forests of the refuge, for Sesshomaru and Kagome to stay, partially for them to have some space for themselves, but mostly for everyone's protection. He made sure that all of the demons living on the property knew to avoid that area in order to avoid accidental purification.

It was a cozy little traditional hut with just the right amount of space for two people who were comfortable being in close quarters. There was a nice little main living area with a fire pit in the center of the room, and a small bedroom separated by a sliding shoji screen. The place had been kept in good condition, and he could tell that it had recently been furnished with new pillows, blankets, and futons.

Izayoi had had the wardrobe stocked with the white haori and red hakama that were traditionally worn by a Miko, as well as several of Sesshomaru's outfits from the house. His armor was placed on the mannequin beside the wardrobe, and his swords were hanging on the wall opposite. There was Tensaiga, an ironic gift from his father on the day Sesshomaru came of age, and was forged from his father's fang, as well as Tokijin which was taken from a foolish swordsmith who hadn't had any idea of the powers he was dealing with, and the Bakusaiga which had emerged from his own body on the day he came into and realized his own power. It had been a very long time since he'd needed to use any of them, and his hand itched to hold one again.

There was something refreshing about those times when he had been free to roam the earth. Free to test his strength against equally strong foes, and to be answerable to no one except his father. Those days when they didn't have to hide. He missed it.

Kagome walked into the room in the middle of Sesshomaru's reverie to find him staring sightlessly at the sword wall. "Should I give you a minute alone with them?" She joked. Izayoi had helped her into the traditional Miko clothing, and shown her how to do all the ties herself. She wasn't entirely sure she could remember everything, but she figured Sesshomaru would be able to help her too.

After she had slept off the exhaustion from her power overload, the glow had also worn off, and Kagome felt almost as though nothing had happened. Except that there was now this warm pulsating light in the corner of her consciousness that she could reach out and touch, but had no idea how to access.

Sesshomaru turned towards her and took both her hands in his, pulling her into his embrace. "No. I was just remembering."

"You miss it don't you?"

He let out a long breath. "Yes. I miss it."

Kagome looked up and gave him a sweet smile. "On the bright side, I think we might be here for a while, so maybe you can show me what it was like back then. Especially since I don't even know where to start with that fire pit back there." Kagome gestured behind her towards the main living area.

Sesshomaru let out that low rumbling laugh that Kagome loved, and she couldn't help but give a little chuckle of her own. It really would be like going back in time for a while.

"I feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, and I haven't quite landed yet," Kagome confessed.

Sesshomaru gave her a little squeeze before leading her back outside. "That feeling will go away after you've spent some more time immersed in the culture, and in practice to harness your gifts. Speaking of, it's probably a good thing that you found out about the power now, before we completed our Mating bond, because with a power like that, as strong and as old as it is, it could have had serious repercussions had we not known it existed."

Kagome gave him a questioning glance. "Why?"

"Part of bonding, for demons, is the sharing of our power. A little bit of their Youki is exchanged with one another, strengthening the individuals and the bond. I've never heard of a paring between a demon and a priest or priestess, but I imagine the process would be similar. Had your power not been awakened at the time of our Mating, one or both of us could have been seriously injured."

Kagome frowned. "Oh... Then I suppose it's also probably a good thing that I have my entire soul back as well."

"Most definitely." They'd had that conversation right after she woke up from her nap after the fight with Naraku. She had explained everything she had learned while they kept her chained up, and she had told him about Kikyo coming after her to steal the rest of her soul. They had decided to let Izayoi and Toga break the news to Inuyasha since niether of them really knew how to be cordial with the younger Taisho son just now.

Sitting out on the little porch that ran around the house with Kagome tucked up under Sesshomaru's arm and Moko-Moko draped over their shoulders, they watched the sky turn from blue to pink to gray before the stars began to peek out and the fireflies started dancing in the tall grass. Kagome found it very relaxing to be out in the wilderness like this.

"I could get used to this." She mused.

"Yes. It is very tranquil. It was also very dangerous back then as well if you had no means of defending yourself."

"What do you think it might have been like had you found me back then?"

"I think at first I would not have accepted it. I believed humans were beneath us and would have raged at the thought of being Mated to one, especially if she was a priestess. I probably would have come around to the Idea eventually though. No Demon can escape the pull of their Mate for very long."

"What changed your mind?"

"About humans? Their tenacity, most likely. I'm not overly fond of most humans, but I've gained a sort of respect for their ability to grow and develop as a whole. You have this uncanny ability to keep bouncing back no matter what happens to you. I don't much like the fact that we have to hide ourselves from them, but I think, maybe, someday, we can come out and live peacefully with one another. Luckily, those of us who live a very long time have a lot of patience."

Kagome smiled to herself and snuggled closer to Sesshomaru, reveling in the closeness and the safety of him. Three months ago, Kagome would have never thought her life would end up here. Actually, she had been sure her life would never end up anywhere. She had been so wrong.

**AN. A sweet little calm spot after the excitement of the last couple chapters. They're finally getting some time for themselves, so that's good. ;) More coming later. Stay tuned!**


	27. Lesson 1

Turns out Kagome picked things up faster than she thought she could. Within a week, she knew how to start a fire from flint and kindling, she could go out and find herbs and roots in the forest, and she could cook up a pretty decent stew from whatever animals Sesshomaru hunted and brought back for her. She knew Tea ceremony from a class she had taken in 10th grade, and she could dress herself in those odd priestess clothes, which she actually found quite comfortable.

Unfortunately, her mastery of traditional living did not transfer over to mastering her powers. She could reach out and touch her power, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't draw it back out, which left her in the position of not knowing when or how she might have a purity meltdown again.

Eventually, Sesshomaru had decided to call in some backup. The old babysitter who took care of Rin sometimes also happened to be a priestess. She could no longer use her own powers, but she had trained many of the Miko who helped his father keep the wards up around the sanctuary. She was a trusted member of his family's inner circle, and she was well known for being able to train even the most inept pupils. Not that he thought Kagome was inept, but having someone who obviously knew what she was doing, couldn't hurt. She was coming in today to give Kagome some pointers.

By the time the old Miko arrived, Kagome had prepared a warm kettle of tea and welcomed her into their little temporary home. Kaede was an older woman, in her late 60s at least, with long silver hair pulled into a loose ponytail and dressed in the traditional Miko garb similar to Kagome's. She had a kind face with cool brown eyes which had this look in them like she was laughing at an inside joke that only she knew.

Kagome liked her instantly.

After they had had tea and introductions, Kaede took Kagome outside to assess what she already knew. Sesshomaru sat on the porch to watch, as Kaede ran through some meditation techniques and basic, necessary, information that every shrine maiden should know. She went through what was true and what was a myth, and she listened to Kagome recount what had happened at the bunker.

"Your power woke and came to your aid because your life was in danger." She said after hearing the whole story. "You went your whole life without the training that most Miko begins at the age of 10. Therefore, there may be a little more effort that you will need to put in in order to achieve the level of control that most have at your age. I think it's safe to say, though, that you do in fact hold a great power that most in this day and age could only dream of."

Kagome listened and felt herself deflate a little at the thought of all that training. "How much control do you think I need before it would be safe to..." She cast a meaningful look at Sesshomaru and blushed slightly realizing he could hear her and could probably guess her meaning.

Kaede chuckled. "No need to be bashful, child, it's a part of life. I think you're safe now. Before you reenter society though, you should at least be able to control your spiritual power through some sort of object, like an anchor. Do you favor a specific wepon?"

"... No. Not really."

"Let's start with a Bow and Arrow then. Seeing as that is what your power manifested when you shot down the spider demon. Use mine for now, and if it feels right, we'll get you your own." Kaede then proceded to produce a long-bow and a quiver of arrows from her back and hand them to Kagome. "Just knock one and try to hit that tree." She suggested.

Kagome pulled one of the arrows from the quiver and knocked it to the string, trying to remember what she had done when she was fighting Naraku. Pulling back on the string, she took aim, took a breath to try and still her trembling hands, and let it loose along with her arrow. The arrow flew and struck the tree trunk. Walking closer to examine her handy work, Kagome was quite supprised with her self.

"Good! You're a natural. Now pull it out and try again, only this time, find that power inside and try to direct it into the shaft of the arrow. Attach your power to your weapon, and then let it loose."

Kagome tried again. Nothing happened. She tried again and again and again until finally, hours later, fed up with the whole thing, she loosed one last arrow jokingly thinking about tying that frustrating little ball of power to the arrow in a neat little bow, and the arrow glowed bright pink before it burned a little hole into the tree. Her eyes widened. She'd done it! She had actually accessed her power, and it had worked!

Kagome did a little victory dance and Kaede reclaimed her bow and arrow, telling them that the next time she came, she would help her to make her own bow and arrows.

Kagome was both elated and exhausted after training all day like that, and her arms felt like they might fall off at any second. Sesshomaru had left a few hours earlier to let his Beast run, and Kagome was almost too tired to care. Trudging into the house, she rolled out her futon and went to sleep without bothering to change out of her sweaty clothes.

AN. Well, that was fun. I'll Be back with another update here soon hopefully. As always, I love hearing from you guys! Hasta luego!


	28. Explanations Part 3

Sesshomaru had returned to the little hut shortly after dark to find coals glowing in the fire pit, and Kagome passed out in the bedroom, still fully dressed. Sesshomaru stood in the doorway for several moments just observing her in her sleep. So much had changed in the short time they had known each other. Only 3 months ago they had both been alone and miserable, each in various stages of dealing with that loneliness. The way she acted now, you would hardly know that she had tried to end her own life, the only evidence left behind is the physical scars on her arms and occasional moments where she would go quiet and serious when specific names or phrases were mentioned. Right now she was sleeping so peacefully, her face smooth and free of those minute worry lines she always wore. He knew her heavy sleep was in part due to the hard work of the last several days, but he also wanted to believe that her quiet sleep was also a result of finally moving on and leaving the past behind her.

He smiled softly before moving back to stoke up the fire so that he could have some food ready for her when she wakes up.

Sesshomaru had let his Beast run free and have control for several hours, trying to ease some of the tension that had build up from putting off the consummation of their mating. His Beast had grown increasingly restless as the weeks turned into months, and now that they finally had some downtime, it was roaring at him to "just take her". The problem with his Beast's logic is that while, yes, Kagome had admitted to loving him, she was still human and had not yet fully been immersed into demonic society. She needed to make that decision. He would not push this on her.

While he ran, his Beast had apparently caught and killed a large buck. The Beast obviously didn't care that it was far too much for the two of them to eat before the meat went bad due to the medieval forms of food storage that they currently had available. He just wanted to provide for his Mate, and apparently thought that a large kill might convince her to accept him faster. Poor thing still didn't realize how different she was from a normal Inu female.

Either way, there was no point in wasting what meat they could use, so Sesshomaru put himself to work making it edible for Kagome, whose human digestive system was not equipped for processing raw meat properly.

...

Kagome woke to the rustic smell of meat roasting over an open flame. She felt much better after having rested, and now her stomach demanded she follows that smell in order to assuage the savage hunger that was eating away at her from not eating enough today.

Staggering into the common area, she found Sesshomaru turning pieces of some sort of large meat on a metal rack, which looked more like a modern grill top that you might see on the fire pit in a campsite, which had been positioned above the fire pit.

"That smells heavenly." Kagome rasped, walking up behind Sesshomaru to wrap her arms around his middle.

"Your awake"

Kagome hummed in agreement.

"How was the rest of your training?"

"Good. I managed to shoot one arrow full of purification energy. Kaede said she will help me to build my own bow the next time she comes."

"That sounds promising." He said, as he turned and returned Kagome's intimate embrace. "This will be done shortly." He mumbled into her hair, referring to the meat which was currently roasting over the flames.

"Good, 'cause I'm starving. How long have you been back?"

"Not long" he replied, "Only a couple hours."

"Why did you catch something so big, we'll never eat all that."

Sesshomaru chuckled. "You can thank my Beast for that. He wanted to get a proper gift for his Mate. He is trying to prove what a good provider he is."

Kagome laughed. "Aww! That is so sweet!"

"He is glad you think so."

"How exactly does that work by the way? Do you just have like multiple personalities or what?"

Sesshomaru frowned down at her. "Have I never explained that?"

Kagome looked up and shook her head.

"I apologize, it must have slipped my mind."He led Kagome to take a seat by the fire. " Youkai, in essence, are primal spirits. Nature at its most powerful and its most vicious. The Daiyoukai, greater demons, like me, are also primal creatures. What sets us apart from them, however, is the power and intelligence we possess. Originally, we had lived only in our true forms. It wasn't until much later that we found it necessary to adapt, to be able to interact with these small two-legged creatures which had grown in power and intelligence to rival our own. In order to accommodate both having now, two forms, our souls split, the thinking and reasoning parts of our mind from the more brutal animalistic. Eventually, as time wore on, the two parts of our souls gained their own separate thoughts and feelings. The Beast is that more primal creature. He is instinct and need. Basically, we Daiyoukai are dual-natured beings. Two physical forms, two thinking minds. We coexist, but generally, the more logical mind ends up being the more dominant of the two. The Beast is also me, but he is not the me that you know."

Kagome sat quietly for a moment, processing what she had just learned. "You told me, after our fight with Naraku, that he was not a Daiyoukai. If it is only the Daiyoukai with a human form, how did he transform the way he did?"

Sesshomaru frowned in thought before saying, "My guess is that a lesser demon got lofty ideas about being more powerful and found an equally greedy human who would easily accept his possession. From what I saw, it looks like he probably absorbed many other demons until he considered himself equal with the Daiyoukai. Having a human host, and an excess of demon flesh at his command allowed him to transform at will, but hundreds of years of that and his insides probably began to fester, which was why his Miasma seemed so off to me."

"Ah. I can see that being a problem."

"Indeed"

"So... can I ever- will I ever get to... meet your beast?"

Sesshomaru looked surprised. "I hadn't really thought of it. I suppose you could. I would have to keep control of my body as I'm not sure I can trust him to not force the Mating outright, but I could allow him to speak to you if you wished."

Kagome smiled. "I think I'd like that. He seems like a sweetie."

Sesshomaru scoffed. "You would not say that if you were the one who had to see his thoughts all day."

Kagome frowned. "Is he mean?"

"No, just very crude and not very considerate."

Kagome laughed. "I see."

About that time, the meat was finishing up, so Sesshomaru rose to remove it from the fire, placing large chunks of it in the Ice chest he'd asked his father to deliver a few hours ago, and the rest on a platter which he presented to Kagome.

"If you want to meet him now you can."

Kagome smiled brightly at him. "Sure."

Sesshomaru took a seat on a pillow, strategically placed several feet away from Kagome so that he had enough time to take back controle, should he need to. Calling his Beast from the recesses of his mind where he slept after his long run, he handed over control of his mouth and voice.

_"Hello, Mate! Is Mate pleased with my gift?"_

AN. Yay! another chapter. I'm doing so good. *Pats self on back* I'll be back later with more, but I hope you all liked this latest chapter in the meantime. Chiao!


	29. Friends With the Monster

Kagome blinked in surprise, somewhat jarred by the sudden difference between the Sesshomaru she knew and had grown to love and the Beast which now sat before her. The only real physical difference that she could see was that his eyes were no longer gold, but a glowing red, their countenance, however, was starkly different. While Sesshomaru prided himself on staying calm and stoic and generally carried himself with an air of cool arrogance, the Beast was openly emotive, and his every feeling played on his face. After taking a few moments to regain her bearings, Kagome answered the Beast with a gentle smile. "I enjoyed your gift very much. Thank you."

The Beast preened, spreading an almost maniacal grin over Sesshomaru's face. "_Good! Good!_" It exclaimed. "_Mate Kagome is beautiful._" It said then, and Kagome blushed.

"Thank you." She replied.

The beast was honest and unfiltered. It was almost childlike in its need to please her, and his pride in her acceptance of his gift was proof of that. "_We are glad that Mate did not die. We would have been very sad if Mate had died..._" The Beast grinned at her again.

Its statement threw Kagome off for a moment. Was the Beast referring to how they met? Or the encounter with the would-be spider demon from a few weeks ago? Deciding that It referred to both, Kagome gave a gentle, almost sad, smile in return. "I am glad also. I am sorry that I scared you before."

"_Mate is forgiven. Mate was hurting very badly. We don't like when Mate hurts._"

Kagome felt her heart squeeze a little at his declaration. Primitive as it was, the Beast was really quite endearing. "Thank you for saying so. I am lucky that you found me when you did. I am happy that I get a second chance at a happier life."

The beast preened once again at her statement.

"May I ask you a question?" Kagome requested.

"_What does Mate want to know?_" He asked her.

"Why... Why me? What makes me a suitable Mate for Sesshomaru and you?" She asked, self-consciousness getting the better of her.

"_We knew, from before our beginning, that our mate would carry your scent._"

"How does that work though? Surely others have carried the same scent as me."

"_Maybe others had similar scents, but everyone has a core scent that is not the same as any other. It is like a true name written into your being._"

Kagome took that in for a moment before replying. "So then, how did you know my scent before I was even born?"

"_We don't know. The knowledge was written into our being somehow. We knew your scent even before we learned to change our form._"

"I see." Kagome took that in, her head spinning a little. "What... would have happened if you had never found me?"

The Beast looked contemplative. "_We would probably have gone mad in a few hundred years. We are not meant to be alone. Our true Mate is the only one who can be guaranteed to survive the years with us and keep us sane. We keep eachother sane._"

"Oh... May I speak with Sesshomaru again?"

The Beast pouted a little, but he nodded. "_Beast is happy that he got to speak with Mate finally._"

Kagome smiled. "It was lovely to finally get to meet you. I look forward to the next time we talk."

Just like that, Sesshomaru's irises returned to their usual molten gold color. "He really likes you."

Kagome grinned at him cheekily. "What's not to like?" she asked as she stood and sauntered over towards where Sesshomaru sat.

He looked up at her and beckoned her to sit on his lap. "Nothing. You are perfect for us. He would not have chosen you otherwise."

Kagome lowered herself to straddle Sesshomaru's lap, then wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. Leaning in so that they were nose to nose, Kagome's face fell as she asked, "Why didn't you ever tell me about the repercussions of my death?"

Sesshomaru's eyes softened. "You didn't die. There was no need for you to know."

Kagome frowned and looked away, "I could have been the reason you lost your mind in the future. The reason you would have had to face eternity alone."

Sesshomaru ran the fingers of one hand through her hair, forcing her to meet his eyes. "But you weren't."

"I'm sorry." Her eyes watered with unshed tears. "I am so sorry."

"Hey." He admonished "Don't you dare start blaming yourself. You've done that enough. It's past. Done."

Kagome lowered her head to his shoulder, her tears finally falling.

Sesshomaru tightened his hold on her. "I could never be angry at you for hurting. Okay? I need you to agree with me on this. It is in the past."

Kagome nodded into his shoulder.

"Okay," he said again.

They sat like that for a while, allowing themselves to recharge on the presence of each other.

After a while, Kagome spoke up. "You know... I've been thinking..." She raised her head to look at him again.

Sesshomaru slowly caressed her lips with his own, "Hmmm... About what?"

She pulled back from the kiss and looked him in the eyes, cheeks flushed a lovely shade of pink. "We've got this lovely little hut all to ourselves." She looked away shyly and flushed a darker shade of red and continued, "We're out in the middle of the forest, and any intelligent creature will be avoiding coming within 5 miles of this place out of fear of getting purified. Rin is with your parents..."

Sesshomaru smirked a little, pretty sure he knew where she was going with this. "And?"

"You really want me to spell this out?"

Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow. "I'd like to hear it from you so that there can be no miscommunication."

Kagome blushed an even deeper shade of red, her body temperature rising by degrees, even as she rolled her eyes at him. "I'm saying, I don't think we are ever going to get a more perfect opportunity to make this thing official."

"And?"

Kagome really wanted to smack him. He knew exactly what she meant, and he knew it. He just wanted to see her squirm, she was sure of it. Taking a deep breath, Kagome looked Sesshomaru dead in the eyes. "I think that... now... is a good time to complete our mating. We're out here alone. Nobody is going to bother us." She brushed her lips against his, "I love you Sesshomaru." She spoke against his mouth, "I want to make you mine, and I want you to make me yours. Nobody else gets to have you. I'm selfish that way. I want to be with you. And, plus, there is no chance of possibly scarring Rin for life, cause she is with your parents. Like I said before."

Sesshomaru chuckled at her last remark, as his arms tightened around her waist again. "I like how you think." He said with another smirk. "You're not still tired?" He asked, concerned now.

Kagome laughed. "I just woke up from, like, a four-hour nap. I couldn't go back to sleep right now if I tried. Though, I could probably use a bath." She said, wrinkling her nose at the dirt and sweat crusting her skin and making it feel all grimy."

Sesshomaru smiled up at her, giving her another swift kiss. "I think I may have an idea."

They stood. Sesshomaru retrieved a few towels from a chest in the bedroom and, taking hold of Kagome's hand, led her out into the night.

**AN. Hey, I know it's been a bit, but here you go..Stay tuned for the next chapter. I'm issuing a warning now, and I give another one at the beginning of the next chapter. There will be adult situations in the upcoming chapter. If you are not at least 16, preferably 18 or older, please do not read that chapter. If you don't like reading such content, you can skip the chapter, the story will make sense without it.**

**On another note, I recently got my first outright mean comment on this story. I'm not going to call anyone out on this, I just want to take a moment to reiterate that, while I accept and appreciate constructive criticism, I do not appreciate trolling or being outright rude. "Constructive criticism is the process of offering valid and well-reasoned opinions about the work of others, usually involving both positive and negative comments, in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional one." If you think I could have done better, please do let me know. But, please, do so in such a way that it is actually helpful, and not just tearing me or other people down.**

**Any way. Ill have the next chapter up soon. Later!**

**~Cassie**


	30. The Hot Spring (Warning 18 Only)

**Warning. If you are not 16 or older do not read this chapter. You probably shouldn't even be reading this story. This chapter will contain Graphic adult situations and if you don't want to read that, then don't read this chapter. You can skip it and the story will still make sense.**

Sesshomaru had taken Kagome deep into the forest to a small hot spring, well hidden by trees, tall grasses, and shrubbery. Kagome gushed. She hadn't been to a hot spring since she was a small child when her parents had taken her and Sota, who was even younger than she was. She smiled fondly at the happy memories from that time. When it came to stripping and actually getting in, though, Kagome suddenly got butterflies in her belly and turned shy.

Sesshomaru, on the other hand, had absolutely no shame. He easily stripped in front of her, keenly aware that she watched him. Kagome was enraptured as the heavy silk fell off of his masculine form. She wasn't surprised to find that his demonic markings extended past his clothing, though every other time she had seen him shirtless was in his human disguise. The magenta stripes she had seen on his wrists and cheeks were replicated in other places on his body. There was a set of markings under each shoulder blade that reached down to wrap around his pectorals, a set that accented his collar bones, a set that ran from his hip bones along the v that cut down between his legs, and a set that caressed his ankles. She could see the shifting cloud-like Moko Moko beginning as a thin trail of hair at the base of his neck and running down his spine until it extended from the small of his back, almost like a crack in his humanoid armor that was letting that little piece of his true form escape. His muscles rippled under his skin, flexing and relaxing with each movement.

Kagome's mouth went dry.

"Like what you see?" Sesshomaru's voice carried the undertone of a slight growl, almost as if he and the Beast had spoken a the same time.

Kagome tried to answer him, but all that came out was a scratchy little squeak, so she nodded instead.

He approached her cautiously, hands outstretched until they met with the tie at her waist. "May I?" He asked, voice low, meeting her eyes with the fire of his own.

She nodded again.

His hands moved quickly, efficiently, knowing his way around the feudal clothing better than Kagome who had only been wearing this for a few weeks. His hands were gentle with her, however, as he removed her clothing, revealing her body to him. He had seen her fully naked twice before, but in both of those instances, they had been in life and death situations. This was different. Special. When she was finally fully unclothed, Kagome had to fight not to cover her breasts or cross her legs. He had made it clear that he wanted her. There was no reason to hide herself from him.

He took both her hands in his and led her into the steaming thermal pool.

Kagome sighed as she sank into the water, allowing the heat to relax her sore muscles. "Oh. That's good." She moaned sinking even further into the water.

Sesshomaru chuckled.

"Don't you laugh at me. It feels great and you know it."

He smirked at her. "So, I take it this was indeed a good idea?"

Kagome smiled up at him, removing her hands from his to run her fingers through her hair as she leaned her head back in the water. "Oh yeah. Brilliant idea."

Sesshomaru followed Kagome's lead and took the next several minutes to clean himself as well.

Eventually, they both ended up reclining on a rock ledge, conveniently placed just so, so that they could lean back in the water together and look up at the stars. Kagome leaned against his left side with his arm around her shoulder and her hand resting over his heart. It was a comfortable position, one they had been in many times before back at his apartment in the city, and it made it easier for Kagome to relax, knowing what they were planning to do. She had been the one to suggest it, yes, but even so, she was nervous. Sesshomaru didn't yet know that Kagome was virgin, and she wasn't quite sure how he would react to that fact.

After a few minutes of sitting like that, Sesshomaru shifted and pulled Kagome into his lap so that her back was to him, and behad rubbing her shoulders and back, working out all of the knots and tenseness. Kagome moaned with satisfaction as his nimble fingers kneaded her muscles, and he chuckled.

"Oh. That's good." she sighed.

"I get the feeling that there is something on your mind." He said as he continued to massage her back.

"There is..." She said hesitantly, her muscles stiffening again.

"Relax..." He said, working his fingers deeper into her skin. "Tell me what has you so nervous."

Kagome took a deep breath before beginning. "I've never... done this before."

"Done what?" He sounded honestly confused.

"Had...sex... this, all of this, it's a first for me." Her shoulders hunched in embarrassment, as her cheeks heated from the admission.

"You're a virgin?" He asked softly.

She nodded silently.

"And this embarrasses you?"

Again she nodded.

Gently, he pushed her off of his lap and turned her to face him. He lifted her chin so that their eyes could meet, and he searched her face. "Why?"

She was quiet for a long moment before she responded to him. "I... don't want to... disappoint you."

Sesshomaru's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. "Why on earth would your being an innocent disappoint me?"

"I don't have any experience..."

He smiled then and placed his hands on either side of her face, holding her gaze. "And I'm glad of that. This means that I am your first. Demons are not required to be celibate until they are mated, but it is considered a great honor to present your virginity to your true Mate. For my kind, it demonstrates strong loyalty and self-control. I don't know why Humans think that more experience makes for a better sexual partner. I'd much rather learn you and know what makes you feel good and visa-versa than to make assumptions based on past partners. I am honored that you are pure before our Mating."

Kagome gave him a shy smile. "Then, are you...?"

He gently kissed her lips. "I am."

"But that night in your room. You seemed to really know what you were doing."

His smile turned into a smirk once again. "I am glad that you enjoyed that, but I was making it up as I went. I have never seen the need to lay with a woman who was not my Mate."

Some part of Kagome relished the idea that this man had never been with another woman. He was as much hers as she was his, and the power that rested, dormant inside of her, sang with feminine approval. She felt the need rising within her and she let it take her as her lips crashed back down onto his, opening for him to taste and to take.

Sesshomaru's Beast, for once, was silent. He was not sleeping, for Sesshomaru could still feel his presence in his mind, but he was quiet. He needed this as much as Sesshomaru did, and there was no way he was going to interrupt it.

Sesshomaru claimed her mouth, even as his hands reached for her hips to tug her back up onto his lap, facing him this time. Kagome's legs straddled Sesshomaru's hips as they kissed and tasted each other, hands roaming and exploring. Kagoma was suddenly very aware that they were both naked, as she felt the length his arousal nestled against the heat between her own legs. Curious, Kagome gave an experimental little grind against him and they both moaned. Proud of herself, she did it again. And again. Until they were Kissing and writhing against each other with a wild sort of abandon.

Her hands explored his body, enjoying every sound she pulled from him when she caressed one or another of his marks. Once, her fingers slid over the marks than ran under his shoulders and pectorals and he did that growly purring thing that she loved, and the vibrations that traveled from him to her sent delicious waves of pleasure crashing over her.

Sesshomaru's hands began to move, from sliding up and down her back and sides to caressing her belly and moving up to cup her breasts the way she had liked it before. Kagome gasped and threw her head back. Pleased with the response he received, he allowed one of his hands to then travel down to where she was moving against him. His fingers found the small patch of curls which guarded her core and his thumb caressed the crease of her thigh and she froze. He gently urged her to rise a little, and then slipped his hand between her legs. Kagome gave slight whimper when the knuckle of one finger brushed the little bundle of nerves that hid there between her thighs amidst his exploration. He caressed her clit again, this time intentionally, and she gasped. Sesshomaru slid the hand that had been holding her other breast, back around to the small of her back, supporting her as she melted into his touch.

Grinning, clearly satisfied with himself, he continued his attack on that sensitive little nub with his thumb, and let a questing finger slide between her folds. Sesshomaru enjoyed watching her face as she came undone under his touch, and soon found himself holding her up while her every muscle clenched and released with her climax, and she cried out his name, little tears in the corners of her eyes.

Gasping and desperately trying to catch her breath, Kagome slumped forward and rested her forehead against his shoulder. "Are you sure that this is your first time?" She asked, breathless and skeptical.

"I'm sure." He chuckled. "That good?"

"Mmmmm..."

Sesshomaru stood and carried her to the bank where he had laid out a blanket before their bath.

"Shouldn't we dry off first?"

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

He lay her down on the blanket, supporting himself over her. Laying a gentle hand on her cheek he spoke again, being sure to catch her gaze "It's not too late yet, are you absolutely sure that you want this? There is still time to back out."

Kagome smiled up at him, and, spreading her legs wide so that her knees were on either side of his hips, she said "You can't get rid of me that easily. I told you I'm ready. Trust me, and come here."

He leaned down and Kissed her again before positioning himself and slowly entering her body.

Kagome bit her lower lip as she felt the first twinges of discomfort, but it didn't hurt as she had expected. When he was fully sheathed within her she wrapped her legs up around his hips and locked her ankles. "Your mine now." She whispered into his ear. "Now, take what is yours."

And he did. As soon as he was inside her his Beast roared in triumph. She was his. He moved within her and bushed a certain place deep inside of her and she arched her back off of the ground.

Suddenly concerned he asked, "Are you-?"

"I'm okay." She gasped, cutting him off. "Do it again." He did. Soon they were moving together in a sensual rhythm and Kagome let herself embrace this man with no hesitation and no holds barred. She soon climaxed again, crying out and convulsing around him.

Just as her third climax of the night came upon her she felt Sesshomaru's mouth at the juncture between her neck and shoulder, right before his fangs pierced her flesh. The startling contrast between pain and pleasure was enough to send her hurtling off the edge as her Mate came inside of her, spilling his seed within her as their auras mingled and became one in an explosion of color and sensation.

In the aftermath of their coupling, Kagome lay on her Mate's chest with him still connected to her in the most intimate fashion, both breathing hard and basking in the afterglow. "That was..."

"Agreed."

"So this makes it official?" Kagome raised her head to look into his eyes.

"Yes, though we are not fully Mated in the eyes of society until I present you as my Mate to my family and then the council, the process is well past the point of no return."

Kagome smiled. "I'm glad." She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, then down to caress the marks over his collar bones.

He purred before responding to her, "As am I."

Something occurred to Kagome just then. "Probably not the best time to ask this, but will I get pregnant after..."

"Not after tonight, no. Had I scented your fertility, I would have warned you ahead of time, but it is not the case this night. Why do you ask?"

"It's not that I don't want children with you, I just don't think now would be the best time for that. I kind of just want you and Rin all to myself for now."

Sesshomaru smiled. "Do not worry about hurting my feelings Mate. We have plenty of time to consider that possibility."

Kagome grinned. "Your right." She kissed the base of his throat and wiggled her hips naughtily, and her fingers traced the marks at his hips. "Wanna go again?" She asked with a wicked grin on her face.

Sesshomaru smirked at her. "So soon?"

**AN. So there's that. I hope I did a good job with that. I've mentioned before that I'm a total novice when it comes to stuff like this, so if there is anything I could improve on next time, please let me know. I know I made this a little cheesy, but I wanted their first time to be really special for them both. Maybe they can get a little dirtier later. For now, that's all I got for ya. Ta Ta For Now.**

**~Cass**


	31. Back to Work

Kagome woke the next morning to the sounds of a waking forest. The leaves rustled in the breeze and the birds chirped their greetings to one another as the sky slowly turned from grey to blue. She was lying naked in the grass tucked snugly into her mate's body. Gently disentangling herself, she stretched, fully expecting to be slightly sore from the previous night's activities, and maybe there was a slight, pleasant soreness in her middle and lower sections, but on the whole, it wasn't half so bad as she was expecting after the night they had... She blushed and smiled at the memories. She was glad that her first time had been with him, and she would treasure those memories for the rest of her life, which would apparently be a very long one now that she was Mated to Sesshomaru.

A few moments later, Sesshomaru stirred next to her, one arm reaching out to snake around her waist and pull her back to him. Kagome giggled when he started nuzzling and kissing her neck where he had bitten her last night.

"That tickles." she murmured as she turned to face him and return his kisses. She noted absently that the mark did not hurt either, which was odd, considering he had definitely broken skin, and she had felt his fangs pretty deep.

"Hmmm" he replied to her, letting the noise just rumble in his chest, almost like a purr. He still wasn't quite awake.

"We should get back to the hut and get dressed," she muttered into his mouth.

He replied with a plaintive moan, and Kagome had to bite back the laugh that desperately wanted out.

"I know, but Kaede is coming back today, and I doubt she wants to find us like this..."

"Don't care." He humphed and pulled her even closer.

this time she did laugh a little before pulling out her trump card... "I'm hungry though..." She said with a pout she had learned from Rin.

Sesshomaru sighed, defeatedly. If his Mate was hungry, his instincts demanded he feeds her. The whole provide and protect thing. "Fine" he groaned out, as he loosened his grip.

They did finally get back to the little hut and had a pretty generous breakfast from the leftovers of the previous dinner. Kagome was just tying her hair back in one of the linen ribbons provided along with the Miko garb when Kaede arrived with a pack full of supplies.

The neckline of the robes she wore was low enough as to easily display her new mark, which Sesshomaru had explained on their walk back, did not hurt because the bonding magic had quickly healed the punctures and replaced any scares with his personal crest to look like a light blue birthmark. Kaede noticed the change immediately and smirked knowingly at her new pupil before dragging her off into the forest to hunt down the right wood for Kagome's new bow.

The following weeks were filled with finding the right trees, testing flexibility, carving, boiling, curing, and everything else that came with making her new weapon from scratch. She learned how to shape the wood. How to make the bowstring appropriately taut. How to carve out arrowheads from flint. How to collect and shape the feathers. By the time all was said and done, Kagome had the knowledge she needed to make a bow and arrows to suit her needs, and also the experience and practice needed to control enough of her powers to safely reenter society.

She had learned where and how to access her powers, and how to keep them on a tight leash in tense or emotional situations. Kagome no longer feared accidentally purifying one of her coworkers, and on the other hand, knew that she could easily purify an attacker on command if she needed to.

Kagome found herself, on the morning that they planned to go back to the Taisho manor before heading back home, sitting out on the porch of the hut and wishing they had more time there not spent in training. Sesshomaru came out to join her after ensuring once more that everything was packed up and ready to go back.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, sitting and pulling her into his lap.

"I wish we had more time here just to relax." She said, leaning her head into the crook of his shoulder.

He hummed in agreement. "Perhaps we should plan to come back here on vacation in the future. Sometimes when we aren't in the middle of one crisis or another."

Kagome smiled. "Can we?"

"I don't see why not." He replied.

They sat like that for several more minutes before deciding they really did need to get back. Kagome said goodbye to the little hut, as Sesshomaru transformed for their flight back to the fortress.

**AN... I know it been a while, but I would kick myself if I didn't actually finish this. for anyone who is around to still read this, thank you so much for your patience in sticking with the story with me. I will be back. Please don't give up on me.**


	32. Final Explanations and Looking Forward

Inuyasha was waiting at the mansion when Sesshomaru and Kagome arrived. Apparently, he had been trying to get hold of Kikyo for the past several months and just now decided to ask his parents about her. In a truly unfortunate turn of events, Sesshomaru and Kagome arrived just in time for him to fly into a despirate, demonic, rage. Screaming, growling, and out for the blood of the one who killed his woman.

Right there in the front yard.

5 feet away from where a now terrified Rin had been playing in the grass.

Immediately Kagome scrambled off of Sesshomaru's back and ran to place herself between the cowering 8-year-old and the raging, red-eyed, hanyo. Sesshomaru on the other hand was royally pissed off that his idiot of a brother would lose his cool like that around a child, especially his child.

Without bothering to transform back, Sesshomaru pinned the half demon to the ground under one massive paw and proceeded to snarl a deadly warning in the hanyo's face.

Just then the air turned electric, crackling with furious energy. Suddenly, both demons stopped cold, shocked by the now chilly air. They both looked at Kagome simultaneously, somehow instinctively knowing that the Miko was angry and should not be ignored.

To anyone but Sesshomaru, the sight of his mate just then would have been bone-chillingly terrifying. She knelt on the ground with the little girl's face pressed into her chest, covering the child's ears, but that wasn't the scary part. Her face held an expression of deadly calm, but her eyes glowed with holy fury. She slowly raised one hand towards the two demons and tendrils of purple-pink light seeped from her fingertips, slithering towards the men. Sesshomaru wisely stepped away from the target of her wrath and transformed. He knew her power could not hurt him, but the pure concentration of holy power coming off of her still set his fur on end...

The hanyo quickly reigned in his inner beast and scrambled away from his approaching doom.

"Calm the fuck down Inuyasha. You don't EVER bring your beast to the surface in front of MY child." She growled softly, her voice sounding as though there were 20 of her speaking at once. "Give me one good reason not to kill you."

"Because we're family?" he answered shakily.

"Not good enough."

She would have killed him, had her Mate not placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear "He just learned of Kikyo's demise. Imagine your reaction if you learned I was dead."

She paused...

"This is your only warning pup. Frighten or hurt my child again and I will kill you."

Inuyasha nodded slowly, warily standing and inching towards the front door. Meanwhile Kagome took deep breaths and attempted to calm her enraged Reiki.

After everyone had calmed down, and Rin was contentedly working her way through a plate of fresh cookies with a glass of milk in the kitchen, everyone else sat in the living room to figure out the whole situation.

When Sesshomaru and Kagome finally got through their retelling of events up until now, Inuyasha looked entirely shell shocked.

"... So you're telling me that Kikyo was a clone of an ancient priestess?"

"Yes." Replied Kagome.

"And you are the reincarnation of the same priestess?"

"Yes."

"Which explains your spooky, death, light, tentacles?"

"Reiki. Yes."

"And she was working with a creepy, demon absorbing, spider?"

"Yes"

"To kill you and steal your soul?"

"...Yes"

"My girlfriend was a soulless clone-zombie person?"

"... yes..."

"That's..."

"Wierd. I know. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around it too." Kagome said, still pissed at him for scaring Rin, but sympathetic to the fact that he had really liked the soulless Zombie-Bitch.

"I am sorry for your loss brother." Sesshomaru intoned.

"Yeah, well, none of my friends ever really liked her much anyway. Said she gave 'em the creeps. Guess now I know why..."

Kagome sighed, then gently put a hand on the kid's shoulder, her nurturing tendencies coming back to the surface. "There is a girl out there for you." She said gently. "One with an actual soul, and a heart that will only love you. For now, though, focus on growing up a little more, and hone those superhuman senses so you can avoid crazy bitches."

Inuyasha shrugged off her hand. "Shaddup! I'm older than you are!"

Kagome smirked, "You're also half-demon and mature more slowly. You need to wait about 150 more years before you'll actually be ready for a real woman."

He growled under his breath in annoyance. "Since when are you an expert on Demon child development?"

"Since your brother is such a great teacher." She retorted.

He stuck his tongue out at her petulantly.

She stuck hers back out at him, and pretty quickly the fight devolved into childish insults and blowing raspberries at each other, and Kagome telling him to sit, like a dog, any time he looked like he might get physical.

At any rate, Kagome, Sesshomaru, and Rin did all head home eventually, and left Inuyasha to mourn by himself for a while.

The drive home was quiet. The silence laced with a melancholic feeling of regret on behalf of Inuyasha. Kagome admitted to herself that, while they had both been absolutely abusive assholes to her in high school, it did suck pretty bad that circumstances were the way they were. And Kagome really did hope there was a good girl out there for Inuyasha somewhere. Preferably one who had a soul and an actual conscience.

On a more positive note; Kagome was excited to get back to her life with Sesshomaru and Rin. She couldn't wait to be back in the apartment which had slowly become her home. And she had plans to seek out an active shrine near their home where she could pursue a traditional training. After all, now that she was officially a TaiYoukai's mate, she had all the time in the world to explore and figure out her true purpose.

Kagome felt a surge of confidence that she had never felt before, as she thought of all the possibilities layed out before her. She had a life and people in her life that were worth living for. And she had a new sense of self worth that her beloved had helped her find. She knew there would be hard days ahead of her, but she finally felt like she had the strength to face whatever the world had in store. She was powerful, and she was bonded to a powerful man, and she had a strong, beautiful daughter.

Kagome fell asleep in the passenger seat of Sesshomaru's car with a smile on her lips, and her hand held securely in her lover's grasp. She wasn't alone anymore.

FIN

**A. N. I gave it a lot of thought, and I think that this is where I want to end this story for now. The main conflict has been resolved, and I always knew that the end goal of the story was for these two to be fully mated. I might come back later with some epilogue chapters, but for now I'm happy with where it is. I'm sorry if it's not all that you hoped for, but I hope that this was as enjoyable a story for you to read as it was for me to write. This isn't the end for our couple, but for now, it is the end of this story. Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this whole messy beautiful story.**


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